Fear
by Striders-Girl89
Summary: Sarah Jane and the gang begin to investigate a series of odd disappearances. With the help of the Doctor and Bella Lumic they discover strange alien activity that puts them all in danger. Will they find those who have dissapeared without getting hurt?
1. Chapter 1

**_Author's note: So this is the next adventure I have written, and as you can tell by the dates that I have used, it was a fair while ago now! This is a bit of a more grown up adventure for the Sarah Jane crew in terms of the darkness of the episode as opposed to one of the epiosdes on tv, I hope I haven't changed it too drastically. This is just a short chapter to get us started and I'm not sure how frequent the updates will be because of study commitments and the fact that I haven't fully typed this story up. I will try and post as often as I can for you all, though._**

**_In terms of length, I think this story will be about the same length as my Torchwood story, if not longer. I hope that's okay?_**

**_Enjoy :D_**

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TUESDAY 15th DECEMBER, 2009

Ben Campbell walked along a corridor expectantly beside his younger sister as they had been instructed to by the good looking lady who had hosted the seminar. He glanced down at the leaflet in his right hand that said _"Special Enrichment Program for Talented Minds under the Age of Twenty"_ and shook his head slightly.

He hadn't believed a word that the lady had said in the seminar, but he had come for his sister's sake. They turned a corner and he saw the attractive woman walking towards them. Ben smiled at her and received a smile in return as the came to a stop beside her.

"My name is Sophie and I shall be conducting a scan of your brains to give you accurate and previously unknown information about how your brain functions and how smart you really are." She told them in a plastic and uncaring voice. "Which one of you would like to go first?"

Ben looked down to his sister on his left, who was looking at Sophie with a scared look on her face. She looked up to her older brother, shaking her head. "I don't want to do this anymore."

"Oh, come on Bianca," Ben sighed. "We only came because you wanted to." He paused then said, "Look, how about I go first and prove nothing bad or scary will happen."

Bianca frowned as Sophie patted her brother on his back.

"Good man," Sophie said, smiling, "Show no fear and get into the room and the scan will begin. Young girl, you can wait here."

The lady named Sophie walked through one of the two doors beside them and left them alone. Ben made to open the door that led into what he assumed was the scanner room but Bianca stopped him.

"Ben, there is something wrong about all this."

"Bee, you're over thinking the situation, like you always do." Ben said, shrugging her off.

Bianca stepped back as her brother opened the white door and walked inside, giving her a last, contradictory look before shutting the door behind him. She watched the door with worried eyes and she could tell that something bad was going to happen.

Sophie watched through the glass window as Ben walked into the white x-ray room and smiled. She pushed a button on the small, silver control panel in front of her and she spoke into a microphone.

"Just sit down in the comfy chair and we'll begin shortly." She instructed and someone behind her cleared their throat. "Some people will believe anything," she said quietly once she had taken her her finger off the button without looking around, "And these humans are no different!"

"He's older than the others." The man behind her said calmly, his hair white and his suit black.

"I am sorry about that, father." Sophie said, looking around to him. "The young girl wouldn't go in, so this one said he'd go first to prove that nothing would happen." She giggled slightly. "Can you feel the girl's fear though? It is so glorious and delectable!"

The older man took a deep breath and smiled. "She is good stock, but I am curious to see what the older boy has to offer."

Sophie smiled at her father before turning back to the controls and pushing a small red button.

Still outside of the room, Bianca gave a sudden gasp as she heard her brother scream and a bright, white light escaped from the cracks around the door. She stumbled backwards as her brother cried out for her to run and she did; she ran as fast as her little legs would take her.

THREE DAYS LATER

(FRIDAY 18th DECEMBER, 2009)

Sarah Jane Smith sat at her computer in the attic reading that morning's newspaper as she sipped a steaming hot mug of tea and enjoying the peace and quiet while her son was at school; his last day before the Christmas break.

"Anything interesting today, Sarah Jane?" asked Mr. Smith, the amazing super-computer.

"No," Sarah Jane answered, looking to him over her reading glasses, "Should there be?" she added sharply.

"I believe so, yes." He told her seriously. "I think that you should turn to page nine."

She frowned and turned to the ninth page and gasped. "A school bus from Luke's school went missing yesterday!" she exclaimed. "It was reported yesterday afternoon when the children didn't arrive home! Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"

"I was not aware that I needed to," Mr. Smith said. "I do apologize Sarah Jane."

She stood up and put the newspaper down on the desk before she shook her head. "No, it's not something you should need to have to tell me. It hasn't got anything to do with aliens, I would guess." She mused quietly to herself as she put on her jacket. "Well, I can't imagine why aliens would capture a school bus… but I might just go and have a word with Haresh, he might know more about it."

"Good luck, Sarah Jane." Mr. Smith said as she left the attic.

She moved quickly down the stairs, grabbed her car keys and handbag off the table beside the front door and ran outside to her green car. She jumped in, put her seatbelt on then started the car before driving quickly out her driveway, waving to Gita who was driving away in the opposite direction. As Sarah Jane pulled away from her house, gathering speed quickly, she missed the _vworp! Vworp! _sound of a blue police box materializing in her back garden.


	2. Chapter 2: The Blob

Luke Smith, Clyde Langer and Rani Chandra walked out of their science class and began to follow everyone that were making their way towards the main exit of the school, people yelling to one another and laughing loudly.

"Why do you think your dad told everyone not to catch the bus home today?" Luke asked Rani as they walked, Rani shrugging in answer.

"I dunno," she said, "Maybe it's got something to do with all these kids going missing yesterday?"

"I bet the bus company is going to be real impressed!" Clyde laughed as he grinned at Rani.

They walked past the front office and Luke suddenly stopped. "Mum?"

Sarah Jane turned around and saw the three of them standing there smiling at her.

"Oh good, you're all still here!" she said, sounding relieved. "I've just been to see your father, Rani."

"Why?" she asked.

"It's about the bus load of missing school kids isn't it?" Clyde asked, looking around to make sure no one had heard him.

Sarah Jane sighed slightly. "Yes, it was. Come on, I will drive you back to our house, I don't want any of you catching the bus."

Clyde and Rani exchanged a quick smirk as they followed Sarah Jane and Luke out into the car park.

"So what did dad say about the disappearances?" Rani asked as Sarah Jane started the car and they all put on their seatbelts.

"Just that forty-eight students didn't turn up to school today." She told them as she backed out of her parking space and began driving in the direction of Bannerman Road.

"We could have told you that!" Clyde laughed.

"Well, why didn't you?" Sarah Jane asked.

"We were a bit busy," Luke said, "I mean, first we had P.E. then we had double English –"

"With the dragon lady who would have taken our phones off us had we tried to call you," Clyde said seriously, making Sarah Jane smile slightly.

"Do you think its aliens, though?" Rani whispered

"Not everything I look into has to do with aliens, Rani." Sarah Jane said, having been expecting that question. "Although, I definitely think that a school bus full of students disappearing is very unusual."

"Its aliens, I'd bet you anything!" Clyde said confidently.

Sarah Jane exchanged a look with her son, who sat in the passenger seat with a concerned look on his face.

"Mum," he said quietly, "the people on the bus aren't the only ones to have gone missing though."

"What?" Clyde said quickly.

"You kept that one quiet!" said Rani, feeling left out.

"I asked him to," Sarah Jane said as she pulled into their driveway and came to a stop and turned the car off, "Just in case I was wrong."

She opened her door and got out, turning to pull her seat forward to let Clyde out as Luke did the same for Rani.

"Come on Sarah Jane, when are you ever wrong?" Clyde smiled charmingly as Luke and Rani laughed.

"A lot of the time actually Clyde," She smiled at him. "Oh and ring your mum and tell her that you are here and that I will drop you home later on."

"Or he could just stay the night here?" Luke suggested as Clyde nodded enthusiastically.

"I don't mind as long as you are safe." Sarah Jane said. "I don't want any of you wandering around alone until we figure out what it is that we are dealing with here."

"You don't have to worry about me, Sarah Jane," Clyde said as he moved in front of her to stand in front of the green gate that led into the back garden. He raised both his arms to flex his muscles in what Sarah Jane thought to be what Clyde imagined as a tough pose. "I can look after myself," he concluded.

He winked at Rani who rolled her eyes and smiled despite herself before the green garden gate behind him suddenly swung open and a small, strawberry blonde figure ran into the back of Clyde and knocked him forward off his feet and she also fell to the ground beside him.

Sarah Jane gasped as Luke and Rani rushed around to her side of the car, Rani gasping "Clyde!" as she moved quickly.

"I am so sorry!" the girl said in a genuine voice and she quickly jumped up and started hovering over Clyde, who sat staring up at her with wide, confused eyes. "Are you okay?" she pressed, looking at him anxiously.

Clyde just continued to look up at her, opening and closing his mouth a few times before giving up. This girl had shocked him into a very uncharacteristic silence.

"Who are you and what were you doing in my backyard?" Sarah Jane asked as she moved a bit closer towards Clyde so she could help him to his feet. The girl looked up to Sarah Jane and a smile formed on her young face. Sarah Jane looked at her and surveyed her closely.

She was short and petite, her hair was strawberry blonde and her eyes were bright blue and intelligent, yet something seemed a bit off with them. It looked like they were older than they should have been, like they had a depth to them that didn't belong to such a young person. She wore dark blue jeans, black converse trainers and a baggy red jumper that had the emblem for the football team 'Manchester United' on the front. Sarah Jane thought she would have been a few years older than Luke, Clyde and Rani.

"Hello, I'm –"the girl started before Clyde gave what sounded like a strangled cry before him and the others moved backwards as the girl turned around to face the extremely large, electric blue blob that had just appeared in the open gateway.

"Ah," she said the alien gave an almighty roar, but she stood her ground fearlessly until it stopped and looked at her, blinking its tiny little eyes. "Feel better?" she asked it sarcastically before turning back to Sarah Jane and the others. "Sorry about that, some aliens just don't have any manners, especially the rich, influential ones, no offence." She added, glancing back to the blob as the blob seemed to shrug and roll its eyes.

Sarah Jane watched the girl curiously while Luke, Clyde and Rani all looked at each other with bemused expressions.

"Anyway," she continued lightly, "I don't suppose any of you have seen a tall, good looking, skinny bloke with some really fantastic hair have you?"

While Luke, Clyde and Rani exchanged yet another bewildered glance, Sarah Jane suddenly gave the girl a small smile which the girl returned with a wink.

"He's been gone for about half an hour now and Bob – I called Bob, Bob because he's a blob of blue goo and he doesn't do much talking and he seemed to like the name -"

"You called him Bob?" Clyde asked skeptically; _obviously he had found his voice again_, Sarah Jane thought fondly.

"Yeah, Bob the Blob. Have you got a problem with that?" She asked him frowning.

"No," Clyde sniggered, shaking his head.

The girl's eyes narrowed for a moment before continuing. "So, as you've noticed, _Bob the Blob_ doesn't do much talking, even with the translator thing and I've been trying to keep him occupied until my friend came back, which he hasn't done…" she gave a small sigh. "We were both looking for Bob but we split up and I found him and I managed to keep him confined to your backyard – I promise I'll replant your roses, Sarah Jane – but unfortunately my friend hasn't thought to check back here."

"Why don't you call him?" Luke suggested, thinking that it was weird that this new stranger knew his mother's name.

"Can't, he doesn't have a mobile," she said, "Well, he does have one, he's got the one that Martha gave him but he never takes it with him. And I keep telling him that he should have it with him because of all the times we get separated from each other, but do you think he'll listen?"

"I doubt it," Sarah Jane answered warmly and the girl smiled back at her.

"Knowing him he probably got distracted by something shiny," she said in an undertone before glancing towards the road, her face lighting up despite the sarcastic tone in her voice. "Oh, nice of you to join us!"

Sarah Jane and the others looked around to their right and Sarah Jane felt her heart swell as the tall, good looking, skinny man she had described so fondly strolled up the driveway.

"Hey, I've been looking all over for you two!" the man said, his hands in his overcoat's pockets as he looked to the girl, his eyes twinkling fondly. "I even had to convince this old lady down the road that I was from the council just to look in her backyard! I thought I heard our blue friend here, but it only turned out to be her three cats stuck down a hole and she gave me some cake and a really nice cup of tea for getting them out for her." He grinned.

She stared at him blankly. "So Bob the Blob has been chasing me around in circles for half an hour while you've been having tea?"

"You called him Bob the Blob?" the man asked as he came to a stop beside the girl.

"Isn't that -?" Luke asked Sarah Jane as she nodded and smiled happily.

"What is the problem with that name?" the girl asked, her voice rising ever-so-slightly.

"Nothing," the man said hastily, tugging on his earlobe as he looked down at her, "Nothing whatsoever."

"Good," she said as the man took out a strange looking device from his coat and they both turned to the electric blue blob of goo.

"Now this is going to send you back aboard the cruise liner," the man told Bob slowly. "If I was you I would speak, or roar, to the captain about being left behind and maybe even suggest that he keep his visitations to Earth a bit more limited; this is a level five planet after all and most people would freak out it the saw you coming down the street towards them, you sort of stand out, if you get my meaning."

Bob the Blob grunted once and nodded.

"Bye Bob," the girl said quietly and the man glanced down to her with the slightest hint of an amused smile on his face. "Try and stay out of trouble." She added.

The man raised his strange looking device and pushed a button and the electric blue blob disappeared. The girl gave a heavy sigh.

"I wish we could have kept him,"

"Bella!" the man laughed.

"Well, once you get past the _really_ loud roar, he was kind of like an over excited puppy – only more liquid-y." She said, looking up to him grinning.

The man shook his head and turned around to Sarah Jane, still smiling broadly at what the girl had just said.

"Hello Sarah Jane," he smiled.

"Doctor," she smiled happily, moving to him and hugged him tightly. "What are you doing here?"

The Doctor grinned down at her and shrugged. "Oh, you know me, just passing by."

The girl behind him scoffed.

"Oh alright," the Doctor said, rolling his eyes. "We've just been at Torchwood and they said you might need a helping hand. Apparently Captain Jack follows your work."

"I tend not to follow his though," Sarah Jane said. "They depend on guns too much!"

Tell me about it," the girl said moodily, making the Doctor's smile widen.

"Sarah Jane Smith," the Doctor said, taking a step back and ushering the girl behind him forwards, "this is Bella Lumic."

Bella held out her hand and Sarah Jane took it, Sarah Jane getting the feeling she had heard the name Lumic somewhere before.

"You have no idea how excited I am to be finally meeting you!" Bella said smiling happily. "The Doctor is always talking about you and your adventures."

"Really?" she asked, feeling slightly taken aback considering Rose, one of the Doctor's former companions had never heard of her before they had met.

Bella nodded enthusiastically. "Did you really get to meet the Loch Ness Monster or is he just having me on?"

Sarah Jane and the Doctor laughed loudly while Bella waited for an answer before Clyde cleared his throat, making the three of them look to him.

"You must be Clyde," the Doctor said excitedly, walking to Clyde and shaking his hand, before doing the same to Rani. "And you must be Rani and Luke!" he exclaimed before adding to Luke "You're taller than the last time I saw you." He grinned and hugged him.

"So you're the Doctor?" Clyde said slowly as the Doctor let go of Luke and turned around to him.

"Yep, I'm the Doctor!"

"How long have you been here?" Sarah Jane asked laughing slightly.

"Nearly an hour now," he told her.

"We must have just missed you when we got here." Bella told her.

"Where's the TARDIS?"

"I parked her in your backyard," the Doctor said, indicating through the open gate behind him with his thumb.

Sarah Jane smiled as the three children all craned their necks to try and catch a glimpse of the blue police box. "Come inside," she said, "and we can catch up a bit!"

As Luke Clyde and Rani all looked out the back window at the TARDIS with awestruck expressions, Sarah Jane handed a mug of hot tea to both the Doctor and his newest companion, who both accepted them gratefully.

"So, what's this I hear of a disappearing school bus?" the Doctor asked conversationally as Sarah Jane sat down at the opposite end of the dinning table, Rani and Luke turning away from the window to listen and Clyde still stood staring out the window.

"We aren't really sure ourselves yet Doctor," Sarah Jane said seriously as he looked at her intently. "I only heard about it about an hour ago."

"When did it happen?" Bella asked.

"Well, according to Rani's father, who is the principle at their school, yesterday a group of first year students went on an excursion to the Manor Parks Boarding school. They've recently started a program called '_the Special Enrichment Program for Talented Minds under the Age of Twenty_'."

"Sounds a bit like the school out of _X-men_!" Bella grinned as Clyde turned from the window, laughing.

The Doctor shook his head slightly. "It sounds more like the academy that Luke Rattigan set up to help the Sontarans make Earth their breeding planet with the help of ATMOS."

"ATMOS?" repeated Bella, "I didn't realize that Luke Rattigan had actually helped the Sontarans."

"You knew Luke Rattigan?" the Doctor asked, obviously surprised.

"Yeah," she nodded as Clyde and Rani exchanged a 'left out' look, "Mind, not very well, but he came down to try and convince me to join his academy once my A-level results had been made public."

"Why didn't you go?" Sarah Jane asked her seriously; curious as to why she turned him down.

"I dunno," she admitted slowly, "Apart from being insufferably stuck up, all his results for his experiments didn't seem to make any sense at all. And, I didn't think that Earth had the resources to create nanotech steel construction, let alone a system that produced no carbon whatsoever. I just couldn't understand how it worked, I mean, it all might have been a bit beyond me, but the ATMOS system meant that more people would be driving than ever before and the rate in which we were using up the oil reserves would double, meaning we would run out twice as fast. He didn't seem to agree with me."

"That's what I told him when he came here!" Luke said, looking at Bella excitedly. He'd never met someone else his age who thought along the same lines as him, not like this at least.

"I checked over the results too," Sarah Jane said, "And something wasn't right and I didn't particularly want Luke going to a school that was run by someone who thought they were better than everyone else, so we declined the invitation."

"Good thing too," the Doctor said seriously. "So this Manor Parks School is where really smart people go? Were the children on the bus exceptionally gifted?"

"They were your average eleven year olds as far as I can gather." Sarah Jane said. "The school has been trying to promote itself to get some more interest and they've been holding an open week that started on Monday –"

"What day is it today?" the Doctor asked seriously.

"Friday," Rani answered him hesitantly, wondering if he was actually serious or not.

"Time travel," Sarah Jane and Bella said at the same time in answer to Rani's expression.

"Do you know where the bus was last seen?" Bella asked Sarah Jane.

Sarah Jane smiled. "I was just about to consult Mr. Smith."


	3. Chapter 3: Gathering Information

**_Author's note: Sorry this is taking so long for me to get the chapters up, but uni and work is taking up the majority of my life. So this chapter is a bit longer than average, but that is kind of to make up for keeping you waiting and there wasn't really an appropriate place to break this chapter. Anyway, I hope you enjoy :)_**

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Sarah Jane opened the attic door and let the Doctor and his new companion in who were closely followed by an eager Luke and Clyde. As the Doctor was drawn to all the pieces of various alien artifacts that were all around the place, pulling Bella along with him, Rani stopped beside Sarah Jane, who was still at the door, watching the Doctor explain things at a hundred miles an hour to Bella, Luke and Clyde.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Rani asked quietly.

"I trust that man with everything, Rani." Sarah Jane said softly. "Don't worry."

"It's not him that I'm worried about," she said, looking pointedly to the girl standing in between Luke and Clyde.

"I trust her too," Sarah Jane said simply, knowing that you had to be pretty special to travel in the TARDIS.

"But you've never met her before!" Rani said, shocked that Sarah Jane had trusted her so quick.

"Bella is with the Doctor," she said, "I trust her."

Rani frowned as she watched Bella suspiciously. There was something that wasn't quite right with her, something that Rani couldn't put her finger on. The fact that everyone seemed to trust her right away didn't make her feel any better about her either. Even if Sarah Jane trusted Bella, it didn't mean that she had to too.

"Mr. Smith," Sarah Jane said, moving forwards towards the wall, "I need you."

With his usual fanfare, Mr. Smith emerged from the wall with lots of smoke and noise, making the Doctor's and Bella's mouths fall in amazement.

"Oh, I like this room," the Doctor said seriously, his eyes alight with excitement.

"Sarah Jane," the computer said, "It would seem as though we have visitors."

"Mr. Smith, meet the Doctor and Bella Lumic." Sarah Jane smiled.

"Pleasure to finally meet you in the flesh – well, sort of…" the Doctor grinned.

"The same to you, Doctor." Mr. Smith said.

"Mr. Smith helped Luke save the universe from the Daleks," the Doctor added to Bella. "Together they both brought Earth back."

Bella grinned. "Excellent work, by the way!" she said, looking to both Luke and the super computer.

Luke blushed slightly and shrugged Bella's compliment off as Clyde clapped him on his shoulder.

"Although it pains me to admit it, if it weren't for K-9 supplying me the TARDIS base codes, Earth would still be where the Daleks placed it." Mr. Smith explained.

"Is he -?" the Doctor started as he turned to Sarah Jane, who laughed.

"Out you come, K-9!" she said warmly before K-9 appeared out of no where in front of them.

"K-9!" the Doctor exclaimed, his voice slightly higher than normal due to his excitement as he knelt down to pat the metal dog affectionately and Bella grinned down at him.

"Master!" the robot dog said in his high pitched voice.

"Oh I've missed you!" the Doctor cooed, scratching behind K-9's ears. "Bella, this is K9. Well technically, K-9 mark three."

"Pleasure to meet you, K-9!" she said excitedly, patting him gently and making his robotic tail wag.

_Not him too_, Rani groaned silently to herself. Was she the only one who felt as though Bella was hiding something? As she glanced to Luke and Clyde beside her, it certainly seemed like it.

"Pleasure is all mine," K-9 said happily.

"You're the best dog in the universe, aren't you?" the Doctor said, still in cooing tones. "Even if you don't know a thing about tennis, you can thank Romana for that!"

"How does he work?" Bella asked keenly and the Doctor opened his mouth to explain but Rani spoke over the top of him.

"Does it really matter right now?" she asked. "How many people have gone missing and you're asking about how a robot dog works? No offense K-9, but there is a time and a place after all!"

"Offense not taken, mistress Rani," K-9 said as the Doctor and Bella looked up to Rani with guilty expressions on their faces.

"Sorry," Bella said as Sarah Jane turned to Mr. Smith.

"Mr. Smith, can you track the school bus's movements from when it left Manor Parks School using CCTV?"

"I am already ahead of you Sarah Jane," the computer answered promptly. "After you left earlier I decided to track the bus in case it became relevant to you, which it seems it has."

The Doctor and Bella stood up again and followed Luke, Clyde and Rani closer to the computer, where a picture of a white coach was now on the screen.

"The bus was last seen on Argyle Road, heading north away from Manor Road." Mr. Smith explained.

"That's heading away from the school," Luke said and Sarah Jane nodded.

"What's that?" Bella asked suddenly, pointing to the underside of the coach.

"Looks like a portable transmat pad," the Doctor said quietly after putting on his brainy specs. "What are the iron levels in that direct spot, if you don't mind me asking, Mr. Smith?"

"Not at all, Doctor," Mr. Smith said politely. "Normal levels in that particular area is around fifteen percent, but in the spot that the bus was last seen in the levels are two-hundred-and-one percent."

"The bus was transmatted out of there," the Doctor realized and everyone looked to him.

"Don't transmats have some kind of range on them or something?" Clyde suggested.

"Ooh, good point Clyde!" the Doctor exclaimed before rushing forward to squint at the picture while Clyde grinned proudly. "It looks like the five-eighty model which isn't the best out there but it does mean that it is good for us! Mr. Smith, check the iron levels within a five hundred metre radius of the spot that the bus disappeared from."

"Yes Doctor," Mr. Smith agreed before falling silent.

"Why only five hundred metres?" asked Luke curiously.

"Because the five-eighty model has a limit off five hundred metres," the Doctor explained happily, "that means that your missing bus has to be hidden somewhere in one of the surrounding buildings."

"Which should be revealed by the increase in levels of iron, right?" Bella asked as if checking that she was on the same page as him.

"Correct," the Doctor said warmly, looking to her with a fond expression that Sarah Jane had only ever seen on his face when he had been with Rose. She remembered the fond expression that she had received while she had travelled with him and it didn't have the same intensity that it had with Rose and now Bella.

"Doctor, I found an increased level of iron within the boundaries that you gave me." Mr. Smith said, showing them a graph with the lines going off the top of the chart.

"Excellent, where abouts is it?" the Doctor asked lightly and Luke, Clyde and Rani got the impression that he was enjoying himself.

"It seems to be coming from Manor Parks Academy itself," Mr. Smith said as he brought up a picture of the newly refurbished school, its tall glass windows on the ground floor glinting in the sunlight and Luke, Clyde and Rani exchanged a worried glance.

"Ah," the Doctor said, his expression becoming less enthusiastic now.

"Sarah Jane, what about those other disappearances Luke mentioned earlier?" Rani asked. "Should we ask Mr. Smith about those too? I mean, they could be linked."

"What other disappearances?" the Doctor and Bella asked at the same time and for some reason, Rani felt better for knowing more than Bella did.

"Mr. Smith, see if you can find any link between any of the disappearances over the past week and that school." Sarah Jane said quickly to the computer, thinking Rani raised a good point.

"Of course Sarah Jane," Mr. Smith said, falling silent for a few moments before giving them his results. "Ninety-three children of various ages have been reported missing since Monday morning; the youngest being two years old and the eldest a nineteen year old boy named Ben Campbell."

"He used to go to our school a couple of years back," Clyde gasped, recognising the name. "He was on the school's football team; he's got his name on heaps of trophies in the office."

"His sister," Mr. Smith continued after Luke saw his mother exchange a frightened glance with the Doctor, "Is currently in intensive counselling at Ealing hospital."

"How old is she?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Ten years old," he said after a moments pause.

"Ten?" repeated Sarah Jane, feeling shocked. "What happened to her?"

"Do you have access to her medical records?" Bella asked, frowning.

"I do," Mr. Smith answered, pulling up several documents up onto his screen. "Police and the doctors that are treating her believe that her and her brother was attacked on their short walk home from the open day at the academy. The records are saying that the girl was so frightened that her mind came up with an alternative memory to try and keep her from the truth."

"And what was this alternate memory?" the Doctor asked sharply.

"That her brother was lured into a white room within the school and strapped up to a machine that measured a person's intelligence by scanning the brain." Mr. Smith told him and the Doctor scoffed.

"Sometimes I think humans will believe anything," Bella said dryly and Rani looked to her, frowning suspiciously. _What an odd choice of words_, Rani thought to herself.

"Who run's this place anyway?" Bella continued. "I mean, even if the brain scan did work, no one would do it for free."

"A Mr. Edgar Mann and his daughter Sophie," Mr. Smith said, sounding displeased.

"What's wrong?"

"I cannot give you any further information on them as it would appear that I am being blocked."

"Blocked?" Luke repeated feeling taken aback; he wasn't aware that that could even happen.

"By whom?" asked Sarah Jane, thinking along the same lines as her son.

Mr. Smith brought up an error message which read: _the information that you are trying to access is forbidden by the authority of Torchwood_.

"Jack," said the Doctor and Bella at the same time.

"Why would the information be blocked?" Rani asked.

"Is it aliens?" Clyde asked excitedly.

"If Torchwood is blocking information it is highly likely that aliens are involved." The Doctor said unenthusiastically.

"That, or Jack is deliberately being a pain in the – "Bella started but Sarah Jane cleared her throat.

"- behind?" Bella offered and Sarah Jane smiled ever-so-slightly at her.

"What information do you thing it would be?" Luke wondered out loud.

"Hang on and we'll find out," Bella said as she moved forward to the keyboard. "Mr. Smith, I'll give you a hand; I knew watching Ianto and Gwen work at the computers would come in handy one day. You know, in case I had to hack into their system –"

"You're hacking into the Torchwood system?" Sarah Jane asked sharply.

"Uh," Bella said hesitantly, looking back to her, "For the purpose of this conversation, no. In reality… possibly…"

The Doctor chuckled slightly and Clyde said "Wicked". Sarah Jane shook her head.

"Well, it's quicker this way," Bella said, obviously trying to justify herself now. "Trust me, he'd want to get involved, then he'd try to corrupt you all –"

"Go ahead," Sarah Jane said hopelessly, thinking she did have a point; the last thing she wanted was for Captain Jack to introduce her fifteen year old son and his friends to guns and weapons.

Bella sprung into action, typing as fast as she possibly could while Mr. Smith helped in any way that he could. Sarah Jane noticed the Doctor hovering behind Bella as if wanting to get in to help, but he remained still, his brow creased. Everyone remained silent until Mr. Smith spoke.

"Bella, they are now hacking back against us," Mr. Smith said, "Their security is extremely strong."

"I know," Bella said through clenched teeth. "Is it possible to open up an audio link with this particular computer?"

"If Sarah Jane approves,"

"If it will help, go ahead." Sarah Jane answered, wondering why Bella wanted to do this after she had wanted to avoid speaking to Jack in the first place. "What are you going to say?"

"Probably that Jack needs to get off his high horse," the Doctor smiled, "Considering he tipped us off about the disappearances."

"I'll tell him where to stick his security codes, that's what I'll say!" Bella mumbled to herself before a new box popped up on the screen with an attractive man sitting in a black swivel chair.

"What were you trying to do, out hack me?" Bella asked the man somewhat angrily, Sarah Jane noticing a bit of colour in her cheeks.

"_I'm so sorry miss I'm-going-to-hack-into-Torchwood-instead-of-just-calling_!" the man said back hotly with a strong American accent and Luke, Clyde and Rani exchanged worried glances, thinking that Bella had gotten into trouble for helping them, but Sarah Jane (whom had met the man before) could see a distinct warmness in his eyes that the others missed. "_Hello again Sarah Jane_," he added lightly, his eyes moving from Bella to Sarah Jane.

"Hello Jack," Sarah Jane said as she laughed at the Doctor's sour expression.

"Every time!" he said moodily, rolling his eyes.

"_And you Doctor, letting Bella hack into the Torchwood data base – have you no morals_?" Jack continued, rousing on the Doctor now.

"I've got more than you!" the Doctor said somewhat hotly.

"_Ha_!" Jack laughed, a very big grin forming on his face. "_Now who are the three young savers of the world behind you_?"

Luke exchanged a glance with Clyde and Rani before saying "I'm Luke,"

"Clyde," Clyde said, giving Jack a wave.

"And I'm Rani," Rani smiled.

"_Pleasure to meet you all, although Luke, we've met before via the Subwave network_."

"I remember," Luke nodded, smiling.

"_Good man_," Jack said, before looking back to Bella. "_Now, I believe you have something to ask me_?"

Sarah Jane saw Bella's jaw tighten ever-so-slightly. "The files I was trying to open, we need to see them."

"_Oh, which files were they_?" Jack asked her innocently as if teasing her fondly.

"The ones on Edgar and Sophie Mann," Bella told him.

"_The ones you were breaking into_?"

"Yes," Bella admitted stiffly and the Doctor looked amused, which made Sarah Jane smile. "Who are they and why are they classified? Surely if they were a major alien threat U.N.I.T would know about them, which I don't think they do unless I am mistaken."

"_U.N.I.T doesn't know about them because they've only existed since Sunday,_" Jack told them, his tone of voice serious now.

"What do you mean?" Sarah Jane asked quickly. "How could that possibly be right?"

"_Sunday, quarter past eleven in the morning was the first time that anyone had ever heard of them,_" Jack explained. "_Before that; nothing. No bills, no speeding tickets, no bank accounts, nothing whatsoever on them. Their back stories are completely made up; there has never been an Edgar or Sophie Mann anywhere on this planet._"

Everyone exchanged a glance. It would seem as though these people were aliens after all.

"_Their first real appearance was at an opening ceremony of an open week at some genius school_." Jack continued.

"The Manor Parks Academy," Rani said. It wasn't a question; she was just saying what everyone else was thinking.

"_Yeah, how did you know?_" Jack asked, looking slightly surprised.

"The bus that disappeared that you sent us over to have a look at_,_" the Doctor said, "has been linked back to that school as well as numerous other disappearances."

"_Good thing I gave you the heads up then, Isn't it?"_ Jack smiled.

"We can handle things on our own, you know." Rani said, feeling a bit offended that this man sent the Doctor down to help them, obviously thinking that they couldn't deal with it themselves.

"_I know I have been following your work. Nice job with the Bane, by the way_." He complimented and Sarah Jane nodded. "_But it never hurts to have outside help once in a while from people you can trust_."

"Jack," Bella asked quietly. "Who actually owns the academy?"

Jack looked back to Bella and Sarah Jane saw that he was now hesitating. "_A man by the name of Duncan Rhys._"

Sarah Jane watched Bella as she waited a few moments before asking her next question.

"And where has he gone?"

"_He hasn't been seen since Sunday night,_"

Sarah Jane looked down as the Doctor and Bella let out a moan, knowing all too well what something like that meant; she'd seen it so often before.

"_Yeah, I am sorry about that,_" Jack said sincerely. "_The information I have doesn't really help_."

"Is there anything else that we need to know?" the Doctor asked, looking at Jack with a piercing look.

Jack shook his head. "_Sorry. But that is all I know. Anything else that you find out it's going to have to be through your own investigations._"

Sarah Jane saw Bella glance to the Doctor. "Thank you, Jack." She said, looking back to the screen.

"_Keep me up to date and if you need anything, just call next time_." Jack said with the slightest hint of a smile on his face before he disappeared from the screen, a logo that read "Torchwood" replacing him.

There was a moment of tense silence.

"We're going to have to send someone in." the Doctor said, clearly not liking the idea. "Sarah Jane, fancy doing some reporting with me?"

"Actually," Sarah Jane said, who had already been thinking along the same lines as the Doctor, "I was more thinking that Bella should go, she would blend in more than I would." She added, noticing as she said it that the Doctor's body tensed up slightly.

Bella glanced up to the Doctor beside her and nodded in what Sarah Jane felt to be in a reassuring way before looking back to her.

"I can do that," Bella said happily. "I even found these cool glasses that are actually cameras in the attic in the TARDIS the other day; we could use them in order to keep in contact."

"I think someone else should go with her too." Rani said, looking to Sarah Jane. She still didn't feel overly confident in Bella and the whole hacking into Torchwood didn't settle her worries either. What sort of a person could do that?

"I'll go," Luke volunteered eagerly.

"Hold up," Clyde said suddenly, holding up his hands, "Why can't we all go? We could be like one big happy family."

"It's called the school for exceptional minds for a reason Clyde!" laughed Rani. "We'd have to be really brainy to get in. Are you up for that?" she asked, looking to Bella. She hoped that she had managed to keep her tone light and joking, but from the look on Sarah Jane's face, she gathered she hadn't tried hard enough.

"Don't worry about Bella, Rani, worry about Luke trying to keep up with her!" the Doctor joked lightly.

"I still am worrying about her," Rani muttered darkly to herself under her breath and the Doctor and Bella looked to her as if they had heard her.

"Right, well I'm going to go and find those glasses," Bella said awkwardly, her face slightly pink as she walked past Rani towards the door.

In the time that it took for Bella to run down to the TARDIS, Sarah Jane and the Doctor had devised a well thought out plan. Together, Bella and Luke would be accompanied by the Doctor into the school, while Sarah Jane, Clyde and Rani waited in the car down the road equipped with a small hand held television screen that had a direct link to the camera glasses that Luke and Bella were wearing. They would be able to see and hear everything that they could.

"I don't see why Luke gets to be the only one to go with you." Clyde said moodily to Bella, who gave him a smile.

"Show and explain," the Doctor said before throwing a black leather wallet to Bell, who caught it and held it up (open) to Luke, Clyde and Rani.

"It's blank," Luke said instantly.

"Now look at it," Bella smiled and Clyde and Rani saw words in neat running writing form on the white piece of paper.

_Bella Lumic, _

_Twenty-three years old,_

_Born in Bath in 1991,_

_Has a home in Nailwal,_

_Currently lives in the TARDIS with the Doctor,_

_Has a best friend called Sally,_

"There is no way that you're twenty three," Clyde said, looking up to Bella. "It says that you were born in 1991, so you're only two years older than us."

Bella gave him a small smile and Rani's eyes narrowed.

"Well, there's the thing about time travel," the Doctor said as he and Sarah Jane attempted to improve the glasses over at the desk, Sarah Jane picking up on tremendous amounts of guilt in the old Time Lord's voice.

"I still can't see anything on it," Luke said sounding worried now but Bella's smile widened.

"That's a good thing," Bella told him. "The school will probably have all types of tests in place to see who is worthy of attendance and who is not, some of them probably being along the same lines as this, especially if they are alien."

"But what is it?" Rani asked curiously.

"This is the Doctor's psychic paper," Bella explained, waving the wallet around a few times. "It shows what ever the holder wants you to see, although, you shouldn't let your mind wander when you hand it over, it could say anything that you're thinking. It's also quite useful as a party invitation!"

Sarah Jane laughed at this and the Doctor said "Oi!" which made Bella grin at him.

"Anyway," Bella continued, chuckling slightly, "The more of the little challenges we can master, the more chance we'll have at being accepted. The testing of our mind's capabilities will probably be check from the very beginning, so always be aware of this Luke. Only people who have had specific mind training or are naturally talented in the brains department can pass a test like that."

"Which category do you fit into?" Rani asked before she could stop herself and Sarah Jane shot her a disapproving look for her sudden rudeness.

"Oh, naturally talented in the brains department, of course!" the Doctor said, winking at Rani as Bella shook her head and smiled modestly.

"I think its more luck than anything else," Bella said as he bounded over towards her.

"Nonsense!" he exclaimed, putting his arm around her shoulder before looking to Luke. "Get out your best clothes Lukey-boy; we have an open day to crash in the morning!"


	4. Chapter 4: The Plan Begins To Go Wrong

SATURDAY 19TH DECEMBER 2009

Sarah Jane sat in the driver's seat of her little green Nissan Figaro, watching as a black taxi pulled up at the Manor Parks Academy and the tall Time Lord climbed out of the back and held the door open for her son and his new companion. She saw Bella pay the cab driver before he pulled away from the curb.

"_Can you hear me Sarah Jane_?" said the Doctor's voice from the flat screen in her lap and Clyde and Rani looked over her shoulder from the back seat. Looking down she found the Doctor's face displayed twice because both Luke and Bella were looking at him whilst wearing the camera glasses.

"Loud and clear, Doctor." Sarah Jane told him.

"_Do the cameras work?_" Bella asked.

"We hope that you aren't going to be looking at the Doctor the whole time!" Clyde said seriously and the three of them heard Bella laugh.

"Right, well we are going to head in," the Doctor said confidently and Sarah Jane said, "Look after my son!"

"Aww, of course we will, Sarah." The Doctor said softly, making her smile.

"I still think one of us should have gone with them." Rani said darkly as the three watched Luke walk beside Bella, Rani feeling as though Luke was going to get hurt.

"You really don't trust Bella do you?" Clyde asked moodily, not understanding what Bella had done to deserve Rani's jealous mistrust.

"No I don't really," Rani answered him, not realising that he had picked up on it.

As Clyde shook his head, Sarah Jane spoke to her honestly. "I don't see why not Rani, seeing as the Doctor trusts her."

"Yeah," Clyde laughed suddenly, nudging Rani with his elbow and winking at her. "You can tell by the way he keeps looking at her!"

Sarah Jane laughed fondly, feeling glad that she had turned off the button which allowed Luke and the others to hear them. "Which is even more reason to trust her."

"Why is that?" Rani asked sceptically.

"He doesn't look at just anyone like that, only someone special can make him look like he does now…" Sarah Jane said quietly. "And besides, only the best get to travel with the Doctor."

"I bet he used to look at you like that." Rani said.

"Not quite," Sarah Jane whispered.

"How are we going to convince them that we come from a school in Cambridge?" Luke asked as they walked towards the school, moving uncomfortably in the grey business suit that he had borrowed from the Doctor's apparently extensive wardrobe. "I mean, we have no proof."

"We don't need it," the Doctor smiled as he pulled out his psychic paper.

Luke exchanged a glance with Bella.

"What happens if they see past the psychic paper?"

"The first people we meet aren't going to be trained for seeing past psychic paper." The Doctor explained quietly as he moved towards the double glass doors. "That would be left up to the big guns, who we should avoid like the plague."

"How are we going to do that?" Luke asked.

"Once we get inside, we'll slip away from the main group and go and investigate!" the Doctor told him happily.

"Does he always get this excited?" Luke quietly asked Bella, who grinned.

"Wait until we have to start running!" She laughed which made Luke smile, feeling confident with his new friends.

The Doctor smiled at him as he opened the glass doors for the two of them and Luke followed Bella into what appeared to be the reception hall that reminded Luke of some kind of hospital. The walls were all a pristine white and the floor was polished white marble. People were walking around, all families with parents and their well dressed children all speaking excitedly. Luke noticed that to his left were two steel doors with a sign that read '_Parents waiting room_' in bold letters.

"Registration is over in the corner," the Doctor said quietly, pointing over to the right hand corner. "Let me do the talking." He added, leading the way through the crowd, Luke following Bella nervously wondering how Bella managed to look so calm. What they were about to do was like espionage, impersonating others and looking around for clues.

They approached a woman who sat at the registration counter and the Doctor and Bella smiled.

"Good morning," the Doctor said cheerfully and the woman looked up to him with a bored expression on her face.

"Can I sign your children up for the full day tour of the premises today, sir?"

"They're not my children," the Doctor said quickly as Bella said "He's not my dad!"

Luke gave a cheeky grin as he picked up on their awkwardness. "A tour would be great though," he said, trying hard not too laugh.

"I'll sign you up," the receptionist said. "First I need some details to add into the computer."

The Doctor patted Luke on the back in appreciation before he handed the receptionist his psychic paper. The woman imputed whatever information that was on the psychic paper onto the computer before handing it back to the Doctor.

"Well, that all seems to be in order, Mr. Smith, if you could just step into the next room for a general knowledge test before the tour begins – uh, not you sir." The woman added as the Doctor made to follow Luke and Bella.

Luke turned around to find the Doctor looking to the woman with a confuse expression on his face.

"What do you mean, not me?" the Doctor asked.

"Adults aren't allowed into the school, sir. It messes with the children's concentration." The receptionist explained. "Surely who ever invited you told you this?"

"No, they must have forgotten to mention it." The Doctor said, a new edge to his voice now.

Bella moved forward. "It's okay sir," she said, looking up to the Doctor. Her voice was light, but Luke could tell that this new development unsettle both her and the Doctor. "Luke and I will be fine."

"Yeah," Luke said nodding, "We'll stick together."

The Doctor seemed to consider this for a few moments, perhaps trying to quickly think of a new plan, but eventually he nodded once, still looking unsure and not altogether pleased.

"We'll meet you out in the car park when we've finished." Bella said, taking his hand for the briefest of seconds.

"Yeah, course," he said, giving Bella the leather wallet containing the psychic paper and reaching into his jacket for his sonic screwdriver and handing it to her subtly. "See you when you have both finished then." He said smiling before lowering his voice. "Be careful," he said as he turned around and headed back towards the door.

Luke looked to Bella as she watched the Doctor leave, her eyes looking much older than they should have done.

"You can make your way through now." The receptionist said and Bella looked to her, a suspicious glance flashing across her face before she smiled.

"Thank you," Bella said charmingly, "Come on Luke!"

They both turned to see the Doctor reach the front doors and glance back at them, an angry expression on his face. They saw him leave and they both began to walk to the door beside them, feeling very nervous.

As the Doctor approached her car, Sarah Jane quickly opened her door and got out, her heart racing. "What happened?" she asked trying to keep her voice calm and steady as Clyde and Rani got out of the car too.

He looked away from her, looking extremely angry with himself. "They aren't letting any adults into the school." He said vehemently, stopping at the passenger side of the car. "I should have seen it coming, I shouldn't have let them go in by themselves, what was I thinking?"

"If you had of refused to let them go in by themselves, someone would have suspected something." Sarah Jane said, the concern in her voice obvious now.

The Doctor ran his hands through his hair, looking stressed. "Where are they now?" he asked suddenly, looking across to Clyde who held the small screen.

"They're taking some kind of exam," Clyde answered, holding up the screen so that the Doctor could see. "It's got some weird questions though,"

"What do you mean?" The Doctor and Sarah Jane asked him sharply at the same time.

"Like the one that Luke is on now; '_which five figure number can you multiply by four to give the same number in reverse order'_?" Clyde said looking up to the Doctor, perplexed.

"21978," the Doctor said at once and Clyde and Rani looked to him with raised eyebrows. "I enjoy trivia," he shrugged.

"Another one from the beginning or the exam was '_I'm bored with it all' was the famous last words of which famous person?_"

"Winston Churchill," the Doctor said confidently, "And I should know, I was there!"

"_Who is the main villain in Harry Potter_?"

"Everyone knows that one!" Rani said before the Doctor had the chance to answer.

"All right then, how about this one," Clyde started smugly, "_Which constellation can Betelgeuse_ _be found_? Bella's up to it now."

"Orion constellation," the Doctor said without a moment's hesitation. "What did Bella put for her answer?"

"The Orion Constellation," Clyde smiled.

"Oh, good girl," the Doctor said proudly.

"It looks like they've finished," Sarah Jane said as she looked over Clyde's shoulder.

"Ooh, they're up to the tour!" the Doctor said excitedly, bounding around to the other side of the car so he too could look over Clyde's shoulder. "This is the dangerous part…" he said quietly.

"So, if you would like to follow me, I will show you the classrooms and dormitories that you will be staying if you are chosen to come to this prestigious school." Said a woman in a charcoal suit at the front of the room as the group of teenagers all rose from their seats and began to follow the woman out into a new corridor, Luke and Bella bringing up the rear.

"How did you go in the exam?" Luke asked Bella as he stuck close to her in fear of getting separated. He had found the exam relatively easy and he'd noticed that he had been one of the first to finish; he just hoped it would be enough to convince the school.

"Yeah, pretty good." Bella sat as she began to walk even slower than she had been before, keeping her eyes firmly on the group in front of them and Luke quickly followed her lead. "I loved the space questions!" she grinned which made Luke smile. "We need to find that bus and then get out of here," she added in a whisper.

Luke nodded, pushing the black-rimmed glasses back up his nose.

As the main group rounded a corner, Bella grabbed Luke's arm and pulled him backwards and he gave a cry of protest before he saw a door that they had walked straight past without noticing.

"Where did that come from?" Luke asked feeling shocked.

"It was always there," Bella said taking the psychic paper from her vest pocket. "We just didn't notice it because it must have a perception filter on it or something."

She held the psychic paper up to a card scanner on the wall beside the door and the door slid across for her. They exchanged a quick, excited grin before quickly running in and pressing a button to close the door behind them so they couldn't be seen. Bella got an ear piece from her pocket, pressed one of the small buttons and placed it in her ear.

"And we're in," she said as Luke put his earpiece as well.

"_EXCELLENT_!" said a loud, relieved voice in their ears.

"Ow!" Luke and Bella gasped, their hand's flying up to their ears in pain.

"_Sorry,_" said the Doctor apologetically, "_Bella, get my sonic out, it will be able to read for a presence of the transmat, which could lead you to the missing bus_."

Bella nodded and got the sonic device from and pressed one of the buttons which made it beep in a repetitive way.

"Should we look out for alien technology too?" Luke asked.

"_Always be on the look out for alien tech!_" the Doctor said lightly.

"_Be careful!_" Sarah Jane said and Luke could tell that his mother was worried.

Bella turned to Luke, a serious expression on her face. "Ready?"

"Yeah," Luke nodded and Bella turned from him and began walking down the corridor, her high heels echoing off the walls.

"_She looks well fit in a suit_!" They both heard Clyde whisper in the background.

"_Clyde!_" said Sarah Jane reproachfully and Bella looked round to Luke behind her smiling sheepishly.

"_I think Luke looks pretty good, myself_." Rani told Clyde seriously and Luke smiled despite himself making Bella grin widely at him. They both heard Sarah Jane sigh as Clyde and Rani continued to debate on who looked better in a suit.

They continued walking and after a while, Bella began to look uneasy. "These don't really look like service corridors; they're too clean and there are no panels to access wiring."

"_I was just thinking the same thing_," the Doctor said slowly. "_Be careful,_"

Bella remained silent as Luke watched her move around a corner and the Doctor suddenly gave a shout.

"_Luke, don't let her scream_!"

Luke quickly jumped around the corner and saw two metal men with their backs to him and Bella (whom it had seemed had frozen on the spot). He placed his hand over Bella's mouth and pulled her back around the corner where they fell back onto the white wall, hoping that the metal men hadn't heard them.

"_What are the Cybermen doing here_?" Luke heard his mother say, sounding somewhat distraught.

"_I don't know,_" the Doctor admitted angrily and Luke could tell that even he was scared.

Bella looked up to Luke and nodded so he took his hand away from her mouth.

"_This isn't the Cybermens style_," the Doctor continued and it sounded as though he was pacing backwards and forwards. "_Besides, they were stopped a few weeks ago from returning, they were all destroyed –_"

"Thanks," Bella said quietly as if trying to block out what the Doctor was saying.

"No worries," Luke said seriously. "Not a big fan of the Cybermen then?"

Bella looked away from him. "No,"

Luke looked at her and saw a painful expression on her face and he wondered what experience she had had with the metal monsters.

"_You both need to get out of there_," the Doctor said urgently as Bella leant towards the corner to peak around to see if it was safe, "_If the Cybermen are involved then none of you are going to be involved, I'll ring Jack if I have –_"

"They're gone!" Bella exclaimed, making Luke look around the corner too.

"_That's impossible,_" Sarah Jane said sceptically, despite her voice still sounding terrified. "_The Cybermen are never just gone._"

"Mum, they're not here," Luke said as Bella moved forward, the sonic screwdriver raised in front of her. "We should have heard them, but we didn't hear anything!"

"There's no sign of a transmat beam, so they haven't been transmatted out." Bella said, consulting the beeping device while they both heard Sarah Jane and the Doctor discussing how they thought the Cybermen could have gotten to Earth.

"Where's the sonic screwdriver leading us?" Luke asked, moving towards her.

She held up the sonic in front of her again before pointing it in all different directions; up to her right, to her left and finally down to the floor where it beeped excitedly.

"Going down?" she asked, an excited look growing on her face.

"These two," said Edgar Mann as he watched the two well-dressed teenagers in suits run along the pristine 'service' corridors on the very well hidden security cameras. "Who are they?"

"According to the information they gave us at the front desk," his daughter said, handing him two beige folders, "they are two fifteen year olds who attend Cambridge Common School."

"And in reality?" asked Edgar with raised eyebrows.

"The boy is Luke Smith," Sophie said, handing her father another folder, "fifteen years old, attends Park Vale Comprehensive School and lived on Bannerman Road with his adoptive mother, Sarah Jane. He is possibly the smartest child to ever pass through that school."

"And the girl?" he asked with a snarl.

Sophie smiled. "That is where it all gets very interesting."

"Oh?"

"Her name is Bella Lumic, she is eighteen years old and she has recently graduated in July from King Edward's School in Bath with six A-levels with almost flawless marks in Maths, Physics, Biology, English and History. Not too long after this she was reported missing from her home before it was said that she was holidaying in Venice. What is the most interesting part though, is that she has her own file in the U.N.I.T. archives."

"What do they contain?" Edgar asked curiously, wondering what U.N.I.T. could possibly have on an eighteen year old.

Sophie shook her head. "I'm not sure, I couldn't get into them. All I know is that the files were created when she was reported missing by a Major Ingram of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce."

"Hmm," Edgar said as he watched the girl open yet another door with something within a black leather wallet. "It seems as though they are on a little reconnaissance mission. Go and greet them; I wish to find out who sent them."

Sophie smiled an excited gleam in her eyes. "Well, judging by both of their results from the general knowledge exam, I'd say someone along the lines of U.N.I.T, MI5 or Torchwood."


	5. Chapter 5: The First Confrontation

**_Author's note: Just a bit of a short chapter before I head off to work, so I hope you enjoy it. Just on a bit of a unrelated side note, I have this idea for another crossover story and I wanted to get your thoughts because they really do help. What does everyone think of Avatar: the Last Airbender (the cartoon version, not the film)?_**

**_Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter :D_**

* * *

Luke followed Bella quickly down a spiral, metal staircase. The beeping from the sonic screwdriver had increased so much that Luke felt that they had to be really close to where the transmat had taken the bus. There was a tense silence from the other end of the earpiece and even Bella hadn't said anything for a couple of minutes.

Finally they came to another white door which had a small, rectangular window in it. They both exchanged a glance before peering through. The room on the other side of the door was a very large warehouse which was mostly empty, except for some weird looking wiring on the walls and a familiar looking bus.

The bus!" exclaimed Luke as Bella flashed the psychic paper and the door clicked. She reached for the metal handle but she recoiled when it gave her a zap.

"Static," she said dismissively, reaching for the handle again and opening the door.

"_Be careful_," the Doctor warned, but Luke and Bella had already rushed in.

Luke ran over to the bus and leapt through the open doors to check if there was anyone still on board. Bella walked over slowly, frowning as she saw him check under every seat.

"Anything?" she called, stopping where she was.

"Nothing," Luke said as he slowly walked off the bus looking very disheartened as he looked to Bella, who looked back to him with a reassuring expression.

"_Well, that was to be expected, these aliens wouldn't have kept the children on the bus_." The Doctor said.

Bella rolled her eyes and put her hand on Luke's arm briefly. "Come on, lets see if we can find anything else that might help us," she said softly.

Luke nodded and pointed towards the door they had entered and Bella turned to look and found a strange looking keypad that was surrounded by different coloured wires.

"Good eyes Luke," she said and they both moved towards it, Bella raising the Sonic to scan it. "Now that doesn't look very human to me."

"Neither does your sonic device nor what I assume is psychic paper."

Bella and Luke jumped in fright and spun round to see an attractive brunette woman approaching them from the opposite side of the warehouse. Bella instantly stood in front of Luke and looked to the woman with what Luke thought to be her poker face.

"_Get out of there now!_" the Doctor ordered in their ears.

"No," Bella said and Luke wasn't sure if she was speaking to the Doctor or the woman until she continued and he knew then that it was meant for both of them. "These things aren't remotely human. At least not yet, who knows what will happen in a thousand years."

The woman smiled before pulling out what Luke thought to be a very chunky gun. He gasped and grabbed hold of Bella.

"A sonic blaster…" Bella whispered with the slightest trace of fear in her voice as she wrapped her left arm back around Luke. "A friend of mine used to have one of those…"

"Is this the friend that you are working for?" the woman asked seriously, her smile gone.

"Jack?" Bella laughed, "No. Who is it that you think I'm working for?"

"U.N.I.T." the woman said and Bella shook her head.

"Now, why would you think that unless you're an alien in hiding?" Bella asked, moving Luke and her backwards closer to the door.

"Because you have a file in the U.N.I.T. archives that is heavily protected," the woman told her. "Why would you have one of those unless you work for them?"

Luke looked to Bella who had stopped moving and stood frowning at her. She remained silent for a few moments, obviously thinking over what she had just been told before saying; "Whoever it is that I am working with had better stay exactly where they are!"

As Luke realised that she was talking about the others, Bella had turned and pushed Luke backwards out the door.

The woman lowered her sonic blaster and smiled before walking over to the alien keypad, pushed a button and spoke into it. "The intruders are loose, initiate ultimate security protocol; deadlock the building."

Luke ran as fast as he could back the way they had come, Bella right behind him as alarms began to sound. He came to the first door that they had entered off the main corridor and waited for Bella to open it. They watching it shut behind them before running through another door into the main entrance hall.

"Get out, Luke." Bella told him as she stopped to sonic the door they had just come through to try and stop anyone else getting through. Luke obeyed her and ran towards the glass door, receiving a large zap from the door handle when he grabbed it. He shook the door but it wouldn't open.

"It's locked!" Luke exclaimed. "You need to sonic it!"

"The building has been deadlocked," said a woman's voice and Luke turned to find the woman from before standing in between him and Bella, who had turned from the door. The woman pointed her sonic blaster at Bella, ignoring Luke completely and he desperately tried to think of something to try and help her.

"Where have all the people gone?" Bella asked furiously, her eyes flashing and Luke realised that there was no one else in the room with them; no parents or children, no one.

The woman gave a short laugh. "The building has been deadlocked, the ultimate security protocol."

"I gathered," Bella said coolly, "But that doesn't answer my question."

"They have gone where the people from the bus have gone I would presume," the woman answered indifferently, "But speaking of unanswered questions, you still haven't told me who you are both working for."

"I would rather die!" Bella said aggressively and Luke truly believed that she meant it and from the Doctor's reaction, so did he.

"_Bella, don't you dare!_" Luke heard the Doctor gasp horrified.

"Oh, that could be arranged, Miss Lumic." The woman said spitefully and Luke could feel the tension between the two women rising.

"Bella," Luke said, feeling unsure of what was going to happen. Bella nodded to him.

"Step away from the window, Luke." Bella instructed calmly and Luke looked to her puzzled, but obeyed anyway, taking a few steps back.

"Why?" the woman asked.

"You made a rather big mistake, Sophie Mann." Bella said calmly.

"And what was that?" she asked, seeming intrigued.

"You didn't disarm me," Bella told her frankly.

Sophie scoffed. "You were never armed in the first place, all you have is psychic paper and a –"

"Sonic Screwdriver," Bella finished before raising the Doctor's screwdriver and pointing it in the direction of the glass windows which, after a few moments, shattered. "RUN LUKE!" she yelled, as she darted past a stunned Sophie and he did.

He jumped through the window frame and started running as fast as he could away from the school and towards the direction of his mother's car.

"Don't stop for anything," Bella yelled somewhere behind him. And he silently nodded before seeing Sarah Jane and the others running towards them. He kept running towards them before he saw their faces fall and the Doctor suddenly stopped and yelled "BELLA!" Luke slid to an abrupt stop and turned to see that Bella had stopped and now stood facing away from him and the others towards Sophie Mann, who held up her sonic blaster towards Luke.

"Don't even think about it!" Bella said dangerously.

"Too late," Sophie smiled horribly.

Sarah Jane finally reached her son, who was staring at the scene before tem in horror while the Doctor strode a few steps on from them before coming to a stop.

"You cannot harm me with a sonic device, girl, you seem smart enough to know that." Sophie said before aiming her weapon at Bella instead of Luke. "Now I am going to give ask you one last time before I shoot you –"

"No!" yelled Luke, pulling himself away from his mother as Clyde and Rani called out to him, running past the Doctor (who tried to stop him) to Bella's side.

"What are you –"Bella started, sounding horrified.

"I can kill you both," Sophie laughed.

Bella quickly raised the sonic and pressed one of the buttons, but a moment later she gave a shout as Sophie fired the weapon.

"LUKE!" Sarah Jane yelled is sheer horror as Bella quickly pushed him to the right and the sonic ray hit the parked car beside them, making it catch on fire, causing an explosion as the fire reached the petrol tank.

"No!" Sarah Jane screamed as both Luke and Bella hit the hard asphalt and lay still. Sophie aimed her weapon at them again and both Sarah Jane and the Doctor rushed forward before the alien gun blew up, throwing Sophie backwards through the broken window and into the entrance hall.

"Luke!" Sarah Jane cried, running towards her son who slowly sat up.

"I'm fine," Luke said, rubbing his head both his and Bella's glasses laying forgotten on the ground in front of them, "Bella shielded me from the explosion."

As she wrapped her arms around her son, Sarah Jane watched Bella sit up facing away from them and the Doctor ran round to her so that he was facing towards Sarah Jane. She saw the colour vanish from his face slightly as he sunk to the ground in front of her.

"I'll be fine, you know that." Sarah Jane heard Bella say softly as she placed a bloodied hand on his chest.

"Bella," he choked out, staring at her.

Sarah Jane heard her laugh softly. "You've seen me worse."

The Doctor opened his mouth to argue back, but Rani exclaimed "What's happening to your hand?"

Sarah Jane managed to catch a glimpse of Bella's left hand before she took it away from the Doctor's chest, looking down. "It's nothing." She said quietly.

"But you're healing really fast!" Luke said, impressed and she looked across to him, allowing Sarah Jane to see the cuts and bruises disappearing from her youthful face.

"Impossible," Sarah Jane whispered and Bella blushed and looked back to the Doctor.

"You're an alien!" Rani accused angrily. She'd known that there was something that Bella had been hiding, knew that she'd been keeping something from them. She had been right not to trust her. "I knew you've been hiding something from us!"

"Sorry for not giving my entire life story to someone I've only just met!" Bella said as she stood up to face Rani and Clyde, all the injuries that she had suffered from the explosion having disappeared now.

"Well, don't you think you should have told us, seeing as we're investigating aliens?" Rani asked, crossing her arms.

"What are you trying to say," Bella asked her hotly, obviously trying very hard not to lose her temper, "That I have something to do with all of this?"

"Well, you did seem to know where the bus was being kept, "Rani started, "And that lady didn't try and kill you as much as she tried to shoot Luke!"

Bella clenched her jaw tightly shut as the Doctor put a hand on her shoulder and Sarah Jane stood up.

"Rani!" she reprimanded.

"So you think that just because I'm alien too that automatically I am in league with the first aliens we come across, because all of us aliens are the same aren't we?" Bella said angrily and the Doctor looked away.

"Basically," Rani said shrugging. "All you aliens are the same; you all want to come to Earth and take over the world – except the Doctor, he's the only exception. I bet your whole family is in the business of taking over other planets!"

"Rani that is enough!" said Sarah Jane, feeling appalled. She had no idea what had come over her young friend, but she certainly didn't like it.

Rani stopped talking and just stared stubbornly at Bella, who looked down to her feet for a few moments before looking to Sarah Jane, her eyes bristling with tears.

"We won't all fit in your car," she said, her voice shaking ever-so-slightly and Sarah Jane realised what Rani had said had actually hurt Bella. "I'll walk back."

"Bella, you don't have to –"

"No, it's fine," Bella said. "I actually think its best."

Sarah Jane made to stop her, but the Doctor shook his head solemnly as Bella walked past them.

"Just so you know Rani," the Doctor said, looking down to her, his voice sounding uncharacteristically harsh to Sarah Jane. "She just lost her father two weeks ago, so she no longer has any relatives to take over the universe."

Rani felt her stomach drop, suddenly feeling sick and Luke and Clyde looked to her frowning.

"We'll meet you back at your house, Sarah." The Doctor said, Sarah Jane nodding sadly before he went after Bella, not looking back after he'd gone.

Rani felt Sarah Jane's eyes fall on her and her stomach churned guiltily. "I didn't know –"

"I don't know what has come over you." Sarah Jane said and Rani could hear the disappointment in her voice, which was so much worse than anger. "Especially after she risked her life to save Luke and after I explicitly told you that she had my complete trust! Just because she may be an alien doesn't have anything to do with it. The fact is that she is with the Doctor should have been all you needed to trust her."

"She could have tricked him though," Rani said, desperately trying to redeem herself, "She could have been pretending –"

"Don't ever for an instant think that travelling with the Doctor is easy." Sarah Jane said, now with a hint of anger in her voice. "It is dangerous with him and often life threatening. It takes a very strong and special person to travel with him. Not many people can handle it. Some are afraid of the sheer power he holds and some are even afraid of him. He doesn't ask just anyone to travel the universe with him."

She paused and sighed, rubbing her forehead. Nothing had gone to plan. "Come on, lets go home before that awful woman wakes up and starts shooting again." She said, sounding tired and began to walk towards her green car.

Rani followed the others silently feeling horrible about what she had done. As she walked slowly, she glanced to her right and saw down a side street the Doctor standing with his arms around a small, strawberry blonde figure, whose face was buried into the Doctor's overcoat. Feeling worse than she did before, Rani silently looked away, thinking that she had really messed things up this time.

Sophie Mann walked furiously back into the school that she and her father had taken over from the simple Earth man seven days ago. She couldn't believe she had been thwarted by two adolescents with a sonic _screwdriver_. She knew that her father was going to be colossally angry with her, but she didn't care, they now had more important things to worry about, like the disappearance of everyone inside the building. That was going to give the school and Edgar and Sophie Mann more attention than either of them would have liked form the Earth authorities. They couldn't risk U.N.I.T. or even Torchwood becoming involved because they would be able to spot that there was alien technology as easily as the girl had.

She stormed moodily up to the office that her father had commandeered for himself and opened the door without knocking.

"You let them escape!" said Edgar angrily, looking over his daughter bruised and cut body thinking that she deserved more pain and hurt for her huge mistake. "We still do not know who sent them!"

"I highly doubt that anyone sent them, father." Sophie said in frustration. "They seem to be just a group of freelances."

"That does not make this situation any better!" Edgar shouted furiously, standing up from his comfortable chair. "They have got all the right information to sell us out to U.N.I.T.!"

Sophie glared at him with hatred, _like she didn't know that_. "I think they'll come back and try and investigate more. They seem smart and don't seem like the type to go running for help."

"Well, if and when they come back, we might just have to show them what it is that we are doing with their precious humans." Edgar said sadistically, clearly liking his idea. "I think we should give them some first hand experience, perhaps…"


	6. Chapter 6: A Thoughtful Interlude

**_Author's note: Okay, so it's not the longest chapter ever, but it is a bit of an interlude of sorts and they are trying to work things out. I am trying desperately to get this story finished for you guys before I go on holidays, where I won't have access to a computer to keep updating and I don't want to leave in the middle of the story because that would be just cruel! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this slightly slower paced chapter :D_**

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Sarah Jane stood staring out of the window up in the attic down to a blue 1960's police box in her back garden. She was deep in thought; it had been a hectic morning after a night of little sleep due to concern and worry. Absolutely nothing had gone to plan. First, the Doctor hadn't been allowed to enter the school, then Luke and Bella had been caught out by one of the aliens herself and then they had nearly been killed. She shook her head, wondering how much more stress she could handle today.

"Mum?" said a voice by the door.

Sarah Jane turned to the door to find her son looking at her with a worried expression on his young face. He walked over to her and she placed her hands on his face.

"Look at you," she sighed; examining him, "You're completely covered in bruises!"

"I'm alright mum," he assured her with a small smile. "Bella saved my life."

"She did, didn't she," Sarah Jane said quietly, letting go of her sons face to look back out the window to the TARDIS, putting an arm around Luke. "I will be forever grateful."

"Do you think she's really upset about what Rani said to her?" Luke asked quietly, also looking down to the TARDIS.

"I'm not sure," Sarah Jane admitted. She thought that some of the things Rani had said had struck some kind of nerve, both with Bella and the Doctor, but she hoped that neither of them had taken her too seriously.

They fell into an unsettled silence until they both saw the Doctor emerge from the police box.

"I'll go and let him in!" Luke said eagerly before running out of the attic quickly, making Sarah Jane laugh fondly.

A few minutes later, The Doctor poked his head around the door and knocked three times.

"Come in Doctor," Sarah Jane smiled and the Doctor grinned and walked over to her.

"I see that you're admiring my box!" the Doctor said happily.

"Always," she laughed before looking up to him, continuing in a gentle voice, "Is Bella okay?"

The Doctor sighed, sounding tired. "She is more upset than she'll let me see." He told her quietly. "She has had it rough for the last couple of months, some of it being my fault, of course."

"Don't blame yourself," Sarah Jane tried to tell him, but the Doctor shook his head.

"I abandoned her on the planet that her mother was born on without warning or a goodbye," he told her, his voice full of shame and regret and Sarah Jane felt the weight of what he'd done, for he had done it to her once, but at least she had kind of received an explanation. "And it was all because I was afraid of caring too much; I was afraid of losing someone else, just like you, and Rose and Donna."

"You went back though," Sarah Jane said, wondering what had happened to make Donna stop travelling with him, but thinking that this was not the best time to ask.

"Yeah," the Doctor said ashamed, "But the TARDIS landed Jack and I back there five years later; the day that a very large family of Slitheen declared war on her race and wiped them all out. Because of me, Bella is the last Nealonian in the universe. If I hadn't of left her there, the Slitheen wouldn't have tracked her down."

"They were looking for her?" she asked feeling alarmed.

"They were sent to find her," the Doctor said darkly, looking at the TARDIS.

Both of them were silent for a few moments before Sarah Jane said, "I don't think she blames you."

"She doesn't," the Doctor said emotionally, "That's the worst part…"

Sarah Jane smiled ever-so-slightly, her suspicions now confirmed. "Does she feel for you as much as you feel for her?"

He glanced down to her. "You've always been too perceptive sometimes, Sarah." He said, obviously feeling slightly embarrassed.

"It was a little bit obvious," Sarah Jane laughed softly, "Even Clyde noticed!"

He grinned sheepishly as he ran a hand through his hair awkwardly and gave a simple "yeah" for his answer and Sarah Jane laughed fondly and wrapped her arms around his skinny middle.

"I am happy for you, Doctor!" she said warmly, thinking that Bella must have been one heck of a girl.

The Doctor remained silent, just hugging his old friend knowing that he didn't need to say anything. They both smiled as they saw Bella emerge from the TARDIS and Clyde jump up from the stone bench beside the time machine.

"Can I have a look inside?" Clyde asked happily as he jumped up from the stone bench as Bella shut the TARDIS doors behind her. She smiled at him sweetly.

"Can you handle looking inside?" she asked.

"Of course I can handle it!" Clyde said seriously, but smiled despite himself. "I have been on a space ship before you know!"

A slight, surprised expression flashed across her face before she turned to the TARDIS and patted her tenderly. "Don't listen to him girl," she cooed before turning back to Clyde, who had his arms crossed and his eyebrows raised. "The TARDIS isn't your average space ship, Clyde. She is bigger on the inside, has an amazing swimming pool and a couple of the best libraries in the entire universe, not to mention it takes us anywhere in all of time and space." She teased.

"You had me at the swimming pool," Clyde said seriously making Bella laugh.

"I know I did," she said, still laughing, "your eyes glazed over like you'd just walked into a lolly shop!"

From the back door, Rani watched Clyde and Bella laughing, thinking that she had seriously misjudged Bella, considering she had risked her own life to save Luke's, so she couldn't be too bad. And if Sarah Jane trusted her, then maybe she should too. Just because Bella was an alien from another planet didn't mean that she was untrustworthy.

Something suddenly moved out from the corner of the house and Rani ran forwards, grabbing onto both Clyde and Bella's arms, pulling them backwards.

"Look out!" she cried as two large metal men took several steps towards them. Clyde and Bella gasped as Clyde grabbed Rani and pulled her further towards the back door while Bella stood staring at the monsters, frozen to the spot, horrified.

"Bella!" called Rani as she and Clyde reached the door.

"You followed us," Bella said, the panic in her voice very evident.

"You are compatible," one of the tall Cybermen said, moving towards Bella as Clyde and Rani heard someone running down the stairs inside. "You must be upgraded to Cybercontroller."

"Bella!" the Doctor yelled as he ran out the back door past Clyde and Rani (who were still tightly holding onto each other) to Bella, grabbing hold of her waist and pulling her back towards the door. "Everyone inside!" he ordered quickly.

Clyde and Rani turned around and saw Sarah Jane standing in the doorway, ushering them inside. As soon as the Doctor and Bella ran inside, Luke slammed the door shut and locked it and they all stood in the hallway panting slightly. After a few moments Bella made to move back to the door, but the Doctor grabbed her.

"Don't," he pleaded in a way that was completely new to Sarah Jane.

"Doctor, I have to stop this!" Bella argued angrily, trying to escape the Time Lord's tight grasp.

"This isn't your responsibility!" the Doctor said firmly.

"If the Cybermen are involved then it _is_ my responsibility!" Bella said emotionally.

Sarah Jane, Luke, Clyde and Rani watched as the Doctor and Bella stared at each other emotionally; the Doctor's face full of concern and worry and Bella's full of pain and anguish. After a few, tense moments Bella looked down and the Doctor wrapped his arms around her, staring at the wall in front of him.

"Why aren't they trying to get in?" Rani whispered looking over Bella's head to the door.

The Doctor and Bella looked to her sharply, Bella's eyes still sparkling with tears. Obviously they had both missed that fact. Clyde let go of Rani (their cheeks gaining some colour as they hadn't realised that they were still holding onto each other) and grabbed the tall vase that was beside him on the hallway table and moved to the door.

"_Clyde_!" everyone hissed before he wrenched open the door and gave a shocked cry. The two Cybermen were no longer there and instead now stood a tall monster with rows of sharp teeth and small, beady eyes that was dressed in a weird blue leather jumpsuit.

"A Weevil?" exclaimed the Doctor and Bella in confusion at the same time.

Clyde felt the Doctor pull him backwards as Bella moved forwards towards the new monster.

"What are you doing?" gasped Clyde, making to grab Bella but the Doctor only held onto him tighter. "You won't let her face the Cybermen, but you'll let her walk towards that rabie-infested… _thing_!"

"Just watch!" the Doctor said, not taking his eyes off his companions back.

"Leave us alone," Bella instructed calmly (and not unkindly), her voice steady, "And go back to your home."

Amazingly, the creature silently bowed ever-so-slightly and turned to walk back outside where, just like a television image, it flickered before disappearing completely.

"That did just happen, didn't it?" Bella asked as she turned to face them.

"Yeah," the Doctor answered her slowly, still looking at the spot where the Weevil had been, "Weird…"

"Where did it go?" asked Sarah Jane, feeling confused.

"Sarah Jane," Mr. Smith Said, his voice floating down from the attic, "I may be able to explain the odd occurrences."

Exchanging a glance with the Doctor, Sarah Jane turned and walked back down the hallway to the staircase before quickly climbing it, the others following quickly behind her. "What are your thoughts, Mr. Smith?" she asked, stopping in front of the super computer.

"Well, it would seem to me that both Clyde and Bella conjured up the images of the Weevil and the Cybermen respectively." Mr. Smith said to them.

"We conjured them?" Bella repeated frowning.

"Yes Bella, they must have been recent images within your minds." Mr. Smith told her calmly. "Something in the outside environment has reacted with your thoughts and previous encounters."

"Okay, I can understand Bella and the Cybermen," the Doctor began to say, looking slightly confused, but Clyde, where on Earth did you see a Weevil?"

"Yes, Clyde, where did you come across one of those things?" Sarah Jane asked, looking to Clyde with her hands on her hips.

"Well," Clyde started uncomfortably, "There was this article in the newspaper the other day about these weird creatures roaming around Cardiff that the locals had called a Weevil, so I thought that I'd have a look into it, using Mr. Smith for help."

"Honestly Clyde, if you put as much effort into your homework as you did to sleuthing around for stories to investigate, you'd be top of the class!" Sarah Jane said, feeling at a loss as Clyde grinned at her.

"Can I ask you a question?" Bella asked Clyde seriously. "And I need your complete honesty, because I have a theory."

"Yeah, of course!" said Clyde, still smiling.

"The pictures of the Weevil that I am assuming you and Mr. Smith found by accessing Torchwood files, which explains why Torchwood were ready to hack back when I tried to get in," Bella said, "did they scare you?"

Before Clyde could stop himself, he scoffed and glanced to Luke and Rani, not wanting them to think that he was scared of a picture.

"Clyde, I need your honest answer," Bella urged.

He hesitated before answering. "Not that I ever get scared or anything, but I guess – well, I wouldn't want to meet a real one, that's for sure! I mean, it's got sharp claws and a gob full of razor sharp teeth that could devour you in like a second or something!"

Bella nodded.

"What are you thinking?" Sarah Jane asked curiously.

"Well," she said slowly, obviously still thinking it over herself, "The Weevils seem to be a recent fear of Clyde's and the Cybermen are a recent fear for me too because I really didn't have much knowledge of them before meeting them face to face. So both the Weevil and the Cybermen were recent fears as opposed to greatest fears…"

"A recent fear was being turned into Cybercontroller?" Rani asked sceptically, remember what one of the Cybermen out the back had said to her and Bella looked up to her with haunted eyes and with a slight gasp, Rani knew that it had been.

"Another point to support this theory is that the Cybermen were one of the last things that the Doctor and I came across that really scared me," Bella admitted quietly, looking to Sarah Jane now. "I mean, you know yourself, Sarah Jane, how many things you come across that scare you when you travel in the TARDIS, even if we don't care to admit it in front of him." She added, gesturing towards the Doctor, who Sarah Jane noticed looked to Bella somewhat painfully. "And as terrifying as they are, the Cybermen are no where near what I fear the most."

"Would you agree Clyde?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Definitely," Clyde frowned, "How can I be properly scared of something that I've never even met before?"

"But what is causing it?" the Doctor asked grumpily. "What could possibly be reacting with people's thought and where is it coming from?"

"The school," Luke answered simply and he felt everyone turn to him. "That's where Bella first saw the Cybermen."

There was a tense silence that followed Luke's information before the Doctor finally said "We need to get back to that school…"


	7. Chapter 7: Questions and Answers

**_Author's note: Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed the last chapter cause here is the next one and I am sorry about how long it has taken me to get this up, but I only just worked out how to get past that stupid error thing which wasn't letting me update, so a big thank you to MayFairy. _You are brilliant_!. We get to find out what's going on this chapter, so I hope you've been paying attention! Haha, anyways I'm not sure if I've mentioned that this story is set in the break between series two and the beginning of series three of SJA. I think I may have forgotten to mention it at the start; my mind is all over the place at them moment. So we are sort of nearing the end of the episode, but I hope you enjoy :D Reviews are greatly appreciated :D_**

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Sarah Jane glanced nervously down to her not-so-average watch; ten-thirty-one p.m. She sighed as she followed Luke, Clyde and Rani off the public bus and into the dark street that was in front of the Manor Parks academy. Bella and the Doctor followed her silently, the latter, she noticed, was holding tightly onto Bella's hand.

As Luke, Clyde and Rani turned to face her grinning excitedly and the bus pulled noisily away from the curb, Sarah Jane couldn't help but to wish she had made them stay at home, where Clyde's mother and both of Rani's parents thought they were. From Bella's slightly frantic whispering to the Doctor behind her, she felt that Bella was thinking along the same lines.

"They should have stayed home," Sarah Jane heard her whisper quietly. "This might become dangerous."

"They do this all the time," the Doctor whispered back in what Sarah Jane thought to be a reassuring tone. "Well, they don't break into a school in the middle of the night to see what else we can find out, that was our idea. Well, it was my idea, but that's not the point! We did tell them that there was a possibility of this whole situation turning sour."

Sarah Jane turned around to see Bella stop walking to frown up at him. "They are only fifteen years old!"

"You weren't much older than them when you began to travel with me," the Doctor said softly.

"I was eighteen! And besides, they have so much more to lose than I did!" Bella said her voice full of anguish. "They haven't even begun to live yet –"

"Had you?" the Doctor interrupted her, surveying her with his deep, caring eyes.

Bella seemed to think about this. "No," she said honestly, "I had never lived until I met you."

Sarah Jane watched as warmth spread to the Doctor's face and he put a hand on her arm and kissed her gently on the top of her head. Sarah Jane looked away hastily, not expecting such an intimate gesture from the Doctor.

"Right, you three!" the Doctor said, walking towards Luke, Clyde and Rani, Bella stopping beside Sarah Jane. "A set of rules before we go in – well, there is just one rule, really. If Sarah Jane, Bella or I tell you to run, hide or get out that is exactly what you do, understand?"

"What happens if one of you gets hurt?" Clyde protested stubbornly.

"If we tell you to leave us in there, we mean it." The Doctor said sternly.

The three of them grumbled, not liking what the Doctor was making them agree to. They nodded eventually and the Doctor gave them a smile.

"Right then," he said, clapping his hands together, "Allons-y!"

Sarah Jane fell in beside Bella as they followed the Doctor and the three fifteen year olds and she could feel Bella's unease and they exchanged a worried glance.

The Doctor led the way through the broken window and into the dark reception area, all of them wondering why no one had attempted to clean up. Surely someone passing by would have noticed all the broken glass?

Holding his sonic screwdriver in front of him, the Doctor reached for a door handle, but pulled his hand back as a blue spark zapped his hand.

"That is not a good sign," he said quietly.

"That happened to me before," Bella whispered.

"And to me as well," Luke added.

Sarah Jane saw the Doctor frown deeply before opening the door that he had not been allowed to go through earlier that morning and peering through into the darkness. "If anyone sees anything that they suspect to be a fear, treat it respectfully and give it a wide birth. We still don't know if they are just images or if they are actually there. Luke, you're going to have to give me directions."

Luke managed to direct them all down the dark and powerless service corridors to the warehouse that he and Bella had found the bus in with no wrong turns or mistakes. He stood back to let the Doctor enter the warehouse first with a torch he had pulled out of his overcoat and Luke and the rest of them walked in slowly after him.

"Why is there no power?" Bella asked quietly.

"There is power," the Doctor said, giving the torch to Rani beside him while he fiddled with his sonic screwdriver. "All of it is being diverted downwards."

"Down?" asked Sarah Jane.

"The Doctor looked to her. "That means that there are levels that are lower than this one."

"But what are they for?" Rani asked hesitantly, not sure if she wanted to know the answer or not.

"To keep the people these aliens have kidnapped from escaping, maybe?" Luke suggested before someone clapped and the warehouse lights suddenly turned on, blinding them all momentarily.

"Well done, Luke Smith." Said a man's voice, echoing in the emptiness of the warehouse and they all looked around to find an older, white haired man standing at the opposite end of the warehouse beside a younger woman that they knew to be Sophie Mann.

Sarah Jane, The Doctor and Bella instantly moved in front of Luke, Clyde and Rani protectively.

"I'm sensing a little hostility," the man said charmingly.

"What have you done with the children?" Sarah Jane ordered strongly.

"They're alive if that's what you mean." The man said indifferently. "Although, by this stage, their mental states may not be so crash hot. Not many people can handle seeing their fears like Miss Lumic can and can I just say, what a fantastic fear it is!"

Sarah Jane glanced to Bella beside her on her right to see her glaring at the man. "I assume," she said in a vitriolic way, "that the images of what we fear that keep popping up outside this _lovely_ establishment has something to do with you two?"

The man smiled.

"Where are you from," the Doctor asked, "what planet?"

"Flane," the man answered simply as if expecting no one to know of it.

"One of the planets that was stolen by Davros," the Doctor realised quietly.

"Oh, you knew about that did you?" Sophie asked spitefully.

"Course he did," Clyde said angrily as he moved forwards in between Sarah Jane and Bella, who both grabbed one of his arms. "The Doctor and Sarah Jane were right in the thick of it! It was because of them and Luke that your planet was returned back to its proper spot!"

"I think you owe them a thank you!" added Rani, she too taking a step forward, the Doctor holding his arm out to stop her from moving any further forward.

"Ah," the man said, turning to the Doctor, "The last of the Time Lords. You have adopted this planet have you not, seeing as yours is lost forever?"

"So what if he has?" Sarah Jane asked hotly, fierce loyalty burning within her like it hadn't done for many years, "we are very happy to have him!"

The man gave an unsettling smile. "I take it one of you is the Time Lord's companion, because that is how we hear it, he never travels alone."

"And I take it that you are Edgar Mann?" the Doctor said with a disapproving frown on his face. Sarah Jane got the impression he was trying to change the subject.

The man smirked and raised a familiar gun that had been behind his back the whole time and pointed it directly at Sarah Jane.

"Mum!" cried Luke and Bella grabbed hold of him as Clyde instantly tried to shield her, Sarah Jane knowing all too well that this was why the Doctor wanted the subject changed from that of his companion; because Edgar Mann, like so many before him, would try and use his companion's life to get what they wanted.

"Don't you dare." The Doctor said dangerously, his voice full of threat and rage and Sarah Jane saw him move ever-so-slightly closer towards her but she shook her head to stop him.

Edgar watched the Doctor for a few tense moments before he obviously decided that threatening Sarah Jane wouldn't give him what he wanted, so he turned the sonic blaster to Bella instead.

The Doctor (obviously not able to take any more of people being put at risk because of him) jumped in front of Bella, his sonic screwdriver raised in a lame attempt at a threatening gesture while Edgar chuckled to himself and Sophie smiled.

"Oh relax, Doctor," he said still chuckling. Sarah Jane, Luke, Clyde and Rani all looked from the apparent mad man pointing the high powered weapon and the absolutely fuming Doctor, not sure what was going to happen next. "Your companion already destroyed this gun."

Sarah Jane watched Bella place one hand on the Doctor's left arm and her other on his back in an attempt to calm the furious Time Lord down.

Edgar had seen this also and smiled. "Oh the fear radiating from you Doctor is pure bliss!" he said as both the Doctor and Bella both scowled at him. "You know, I've found, by sheer luck, no less, that the older the humans become the more they have to lose, which means they have so much more to fear!"

"You're collecting fear energy," the Doctor said, his voice full of disgust. It hadn't been a question, it had been a statement. "That's why Bella and Clyde saw images of recent fears so far away from the school. Because of the adults you are creating too much and it's leaking out into the atmosphere."

"Yes," Edgar scowled, "Because of your little companion and her friend trying to infiltrate the building they forced my daughter to induce the security protocol which in turn meant that every single person in this school that were not in the service corridors were transmatted to the holding cells that we collect the fear from."

"But why?" asked Luke, a confused expression on his face.

"Why what?" asked Sophie.

"Why do you need the fear?" Luke said.

"Because we need it," Sophie said with a smile. "We need it as much as we need air to breathe and it tastes so good."

"So it kind of sounds to me like fear energy to you is a bit like what chocolate is to my mum," Clyde said frowning, "It's just like a drug to you."

"That's exactly what it is," the Doctor said darkly. "But its bad isn't it, producing that much fear energy? It is a monitored substance and it's very traceable, especially on a planet like Earth where normal levels are practically untraceable."

"Traceable?" Edgar scoffed. "By whom?"

"I'm going to take a wile stab in the dark here and say the Shadow Proclamation." Bella said unenthusiastically, still holding onto the Doctor.

"Correctumundo!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Hmm, I never thought I'd use that word again. Anyway, my bet is, which by the way would explain all the static electricity around this place in case you were wondering Luke, that the Shadow Proclamation have been keeping a very close eye on the situation at this school."

"The Shadow Proclamation?" laughed Edgar. "They have absolutely no authority on Earth, but wasn't it you who passed that ruling in the first place, Doctor or was it some other pompous Time Lord?"

"They do have authority on the moon though," the Doctor said lightly, "in which case, my fellow companions, I think it is time for us to RUN!"

Sarah Jane turned and pushed Luke and Rani towards the door as Bella pulled Clyde along after her. The six of them ran out the door they had come in from and along the corridor back the way they had come where suddenly aliens that Sarah Jane and the others had uncounted over the years appeared in the hallway all around them.

"Ignore them!" the Doctor ordered as he took the lead and they ran past the projections of their enemies, Sarah Jane seeing the Bane, the Slitheen, the Gorgon, Mr. Kudlak, the Graske, the last Sontaran and the Daleks as well as quite a few that she had never seen before; tall, dark skinned people with bright green eyes, a group of pirates (one woman and two men that were well dressed as opposed to the rest of the pirates surrounding them) and a pale man that looked an awful lot like a vampire.

"Is that what the old Cybermen used to look like?" Sarah Jane heard Bella ask as they ran, somewhere behind her.

"They don't look very tough," Clyde added laughing slightly, "They look like they've just been wrapped in tin foil!"

The both of them laughed before one of the newer Cybermen shot at them and they ducked and cried out in alarm.

"Come on!" the Doctor yelled as they all ran into the room in which Luke and Bella had taken the general knowledge test in earlier that day and the Doctor sealed them door shut behind them.

"Lumic," Sarah Jane said quietly as she looked to Bella, who looked up to her while everyone else bent over and caught their breath. "Now I know where I've heard that name before."

Bella looked at Sarah Jane with a petrified expression on her face and Sarah Jane saw the Doctor look to her from the door seemingly concerned.

"The re-creator of the Cybermen," Sarah Jane continued, "his name was John Lumic."

"He came from a parallel universe," the Doctor said quickly.

"I know," Sarah Jane said, "I read U.N.I.T's report, but I knew that I recognised Bella's surname from somewhere."

Bella nodded wordlessly and swallowed as though she was resisting the urge to throw up.

"Are you alright?" asked Sarah Jane asked as the Doctor made to move towards her, wondering what caused such emotion in Bella's eyes; _surely she couldn't actually be related to John Lumic_?

"I'm fine," she managed to choke out, her voice shaking severely before giving a strangled cry. "Rani!"

Sarah Jane spun round and saw one of the Lumic designed Cybermen behind an unknowing Rani. It raised its arm and Rani gasped before Bella ran forwards and jumped towards her, trying desperately to push her out of the way.

They both fell to the ground as the Cyberman's laser hit Bella in her side, causing both Rani and Bella to disappear in the blink of an eye.

"RANI!" yelled Sarah Jane, Luke and Clyde and the Doctor ran forward yelling "BELLA!"

"They're fine," said the familiar voice of Edgar Mann. Sarah Jane turned around and found the smug looking man standing up the other end of the room. "I teleported myself in case you were wondering."

The Doctor strode furiously towards him. "Bring them back!" he ordered, stopping inches away from Edgar's face.

"I think I've just discovered one of your greatest fears," Mann said quietly, smiling.

"BRING THEM BACK RIGHT NOW!" the Doctor yelled, well past the point of fury and Sarah Jane could never remember seeing the Doctor quite like this.

"See, all fine," Mann said calmly, clicking his fingers and the television screen beside them on the wall turned on. Sarah Jane looked to it and saw Rani apparently asleep on a small, uncomfortable looking bed and Bella slowly sitting up from the hard concrete floor, rubbing her head. Bella suddenly scrambled to her feet and leant over Rani and shook her gently.

"_Rani_," they all heard her say, her voice full of concern before she let out a sigh of relief.

Sarah Jane watched as Bella slowly looked up from Rani to the wall opposite her, a look of horror forming on her face. She moved over towards it slowly and placed her hands on the wall, her face as close as it could possibly get.

"What is she doing?" Clyde asked, confused as to what Bella could possibly be looking at, seeing as she was enclosed in by four walls.

"The walls aren't made of solid metal, boy, they are made from glass." Mann said looking at Clyde. "She is looking straight through into another cell. One of Lumic's many fears is that of not being able to help those who desperately need it and her cell is connected to four more cells that she can see into which means there are four people that she cannot possibly help."

"_Don't look at it_," they heard Bella say loudly, banging on the glass with her hands, "_It isn't real, it can't hurt you, it's just a part of your imagination! Stop thinking about it and it will leave you alone!_"

"How do you like your cell, Miss Lumic?" Edgar asked with a grin on his face.

Bella cursed under her breath. "_Let the go, this is beyond cruel_!" she ordered, finding the camera up in the rood in the corner.

Edgar laughed deeply.

"_So help me, Mann, when I get out of here you're not going to know what has hit you_!" Bella yelled aggressively.

"Very touching Bella, but you aren't going to get out of this one so just be content in knowing that you can't save anyone at all."

"_Where's the Doctor_?" She ordered, and Sarah Jane could hear her voice beginning to shake slightly.

"He's left you." Edgar said smoothly and Bella looked up to the camera absolutely devastated.

"I have not!" the Doctor said furiously and Sarah Jane saw Bella close her eyes and sigh in relief but she wondered how she could have possibly believed Edgar Mann in the first place. "Bella, we'll get you and Rani both out, I promise!"

"How are you going to do that while you are locked in here, Doctor?" Edgar asked smugly before he said "Cease communications!"

"_Doctor –_" they heard Bella gasp before the television went black and Edgar teleported himself out of the room.

The Doctor gave an outraged yell before he and Sarah Jane ran over to the door, the Doctor with his sonic screwdriver (quickly putting on his brainy specs) and Sarah Jane had her sonic lipstick trying to get through the deadlocked door.

"Come ON!" the Doctor yelled.

"My lipstick isn't even working," Sarah Jane exclaimed as the Doctor hit the wall beside him out of sheer frustration.

"What are we going to do?" Luke asked quickly as he and the others watched the Doctor stride furiously over to the television screen and pulled part of the wall away to reveal hundreds of multicoloured wires.

"We'll have to concentrate on freeing everyone from the cells below the warehouse before the Judoon transport this entire building to the moon, then we'll worry about us." He answered, beginning to sonic various wires.

"How are we going to do that when we're stuck in here?" Clyde asked and the Doctor looked to him with an I-can't-believe-that-you-just-said-that look.

"Sarah, come and help," the Doctor said shaking his head slightly.

Sarah Jane patted Clyde on the back with a slight smile on her face and walked over to the Doctor, where she held the wires up for him and he occasionally used her lipstick as well as his screwdriver to dismantle the wires. Clyde paced backwards and forwards impatiently while Luke looked on nervously.

"There," the Doctor said as he stepped back to look at the screen where they could now see Bella leaning over Rani, who was trying to slowly sit up.

"_Take it slow, Rani,_" they heard Bella say gently, "_we were just teleported; your head is going to be a bit scrambled._"

"Rani, are you okay?" Clyde asked rushing forwards.

"They can't hear you," the Doctor said gently placing his hand briefly on Clyde's shoulder. "I just needed to see that they were safe. Can you hold some wires together for me while I try and override the system?"

Clyde looked up to the Time Lord's concerned face and nodded, glad for something to keep him occupied.

"Good man," the Doctor smiled.


	8. Chapter 8: A Comforting Conversation

**_Author's note: just a quick chapter as I am running out of time to get these online before I go away. I hope you enjoy and as always, tell me what you think!_**

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Rani groaned and tried to sit up. She felt a pair of gentle hands grab her arms to try and help her.

"Take it slow, Rani," said Bella's voice gently, "we were just teleported, your head is going to be a bit scrambled."

Rani opened her eyes when she was finally sitting upright, the room around her spinning slightly and she managed to focus her eyes on Bella's concerned face.

"How are you feeling?" she asked worriedly.

Rani frowned. "Okay, I guess..." she answered slowly. "My brain feels like it's gone all fuzzy."

Bella smiled at her slightly. "That side effect should wear off soon; try not to worry about it." She said lightly, before her expression turned a bit more serious. "Now, I know that you will probably do the exact opposite of what I say, and I don't really blame you if you do, but try and avoid looking through the glass."

"Why?" Rani asked curiously.

"It isn't pleasant," Bella said, shuddering slightly.

"So how are we going to get out?" Rani asked as she slid of the side of the rickety bed and swaying. Bella quickly jumped up and grabbed one of her arms to steady her.

"We can't get out," Bella told her, watching her closely as if worried she was going to pass out, "I've already tried everything I can think of, but none of the walls will move. It must have to be opened mechanically from the outside."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Rani asked angrily, taking a step back from Bella. "Are we meant to just sit here and wait to be rescued?"

Bella's jaw tightened and she remained silent, which made Rani even angrier. It was like if she picked a fight with Bella, Rani would feel better and things would automatically sort itself out.

"Is that what you do; travel with the Doctor and play the damsel in distress so you can be rescued and carried off into the sunset?" Rani continued becoming more and more worked up. She wanted to blame Bella for everything, even if it was completely unjustified.

"No, I don't actually," Bella said coolly, her expression remaining quite calm yet Rani knew that she had hit some kind of nerve because she saw Bella's eyes flash dangerously.

"I bet you reckon you've replaced Sarah Jane too!" Rani accused.

"No companion of the Doctor's _ever_ replaces one that has come before them," Bella said, obviously trying to keep her voice level and any anger that Rani was evoking under check, but that wasn't what Rani wanted; she wanted to see her true alien colours show that she knew was somewhere there.

"I bet the next one he travels with will be way better than you ever were." Rani mumbled in a childish way and she expected that saying something like that would have enraged Bella, but to her astonishment, it had the opposite effect. Yes Bella looked like she was extremely angry with Rani, but she looked more upset than anything else.

"Sarah Jane wasn't the first to travel with the Doctor, Rani, and I can guarantee that I will not be the last." Bella said, and Rani heard her voice shake as she looked at her, her eyes bright. "I can assume that Sarah Jane can understand how much that thought hurts!"

-o-

Rani watched Bella turn away from her and sink to the end of the bed and even though she was facing away from her, Rani knew that Bella was silently crying. Rani stood looking at the back of her head, feeling yet again horrified with herself; she had made the same person cry twice in the same day, a person that Rani got the impression that it was very rare for her to actually cry. What was wrong with her?

Sarah Jane looked to the Doctor, who had frozen midway through sonicing the wires, an emotional expression on his face. She looked back to the screen and saw Rani standing beside the small, uncomfortable looking bed with a horrified expression. She wondered what had made Rani say such things, and she hoped that it was not because Rani had compared Bella's relationship with the Doctor to hers because they had been very different indeed; almost like it had been with a different person.

But Sarah Jane did know exactly how much the thought of the Doctor (it didn't matter which incarnation it was, it was still essentially the same man, just with a different face) travelling with someone after she was gone, for it nagged at her mind for so many years after the Doctor had left her on Earth. She had felt as though he simply didn't want to be with her anymore, like he had grown tired of her company, like she wasn't quite good enough for him anymore. Of course, that hadn't been the case at all; he had simply been protecting her and had to leave her on Earth because he had been summoned back to Gallifrey when humans were forbidden to go at that stage. It had taken her a long time to accept what had happened (and in a way it took a long time for her to forgive the Doctor for leaving her in Aberdeen of all places), and she had to admit that upon meeting his most recent incarnation did she fully understand why he never came back for her; it hurt to look back on his past.

She glanced back up to the Doctor who was staring at Bella on the screen before clearing his throat and carrying on with what he was doing, his eyes looking as though his mind was miles away.

-o-

Rani stood up from the bed, glancing back to Bella who was lying on her side facing away from Rani. She assumed that Bella had fallen asleep because she had been very still for the past half an hour and she hadn't moved when she had gotten up. She slowly and quietly walked over to the wall opposite her and looked through, curious to discover what it was that Bella didn't want her to see, deciding that Bella had only cautioned her not to look through; it hadn't been an instruction.

She jumped in surprise when she saw a boy of about ten years old, huddled in his a corner watching a giant, hairy spider like the ones from the second _Harry Potter _film that seemed to be sleeping in the middle of the cell.

"Oh my god!" she gasped before she ran over to the next wall where she found a small girl leaning against the wall (Rani could only just make out the girl's tiny outline on the glass) surrounded by the dark. Rani, feeling quite emotional now, moved to the next wall and peered through.

A boy was trying to get away from a terrifying clown who looked alarmingly looked like Odd Bob, the clown who she had met on her first adventure with Sarah Jane, Luke and Clyde. He was banging on one of the walls, hysterical tears streaming down his face and Rani had to turn away to face the bed, upon which Bella was now sitting up with her knees to her chest and her arms wrapped around them tightly.

"Do you understand what they're seeing?" Bella asked her quietly, no hint of anger from their earlier argument, only sadness.

"Their fears?" asked Rani, her voice shaking. _Surely it couldn't be that_, she thought to herself, hoping against all odds that it weren't true.

Bella nodded somberly. "They are all fears; a giant spider fashioned after one from _Harry Potter_, the dark which from the stories I've heard from the Doctor it isn't such an irrational fear as we might think and a clown, which are terrifying at the best of times." Bella said with a level, if not distasteful voice.

"What's in that cell?" Rani asked reluctantly pointing to the only wall that she hadn't looked through and Bella avoided her gaze.

"The worst fear of all," Bella whispered painfully, looking to the ground.

Rani walked forward hesitantly and looked through the glass, where her lungs seemed to stop working. She stared in horror at Ben Campbell, whom she recognized from the picture that Mr. Smith had shown them the previous day, sitting in the middle of his cell holding a young, lifeless girl in his arms, silent tears streaming down his face.

"Losing someone that you love," Bella concluded very quietly. "It must have something to do with the fact that he is older than the others, Edgar Mann did mention something about having more to fear the older a person is..."

Rani covered her mouth with her hands as a small sob escaped her lips and tears fell from her eyes. She turned away from Ben Campbell and slid down the glass wall to the floor feeling so upset that there was nothing that she could actually do to help this people.

"This is awful," she cried and Bella stood up from the bed and walked over to her and sat beside her. She linked her arm through Rani's left arm, who felt taken aback. She was being comforted by someone who she had not been very nice to, someone who she had judged so poorly all because she was an alien, someone who had attempted to try and save her from the Cyberman's laser.

"It really is awful," Bella said quietly, looking straight ahead. "We're more alike than you would probably care to think, Rani; we both fear not being able to help people who really need it."

Rani nodded, wiping her eyes and repositioning herself so that she could rest her head on Bella's small shoulder. "I am really sorry about what I said to you before and – well, since you got here really..."

Rani saw Bella smile slightly. "Don't worry about it,"

Rani shook her head; she didn't deserve Bella's instant forgiveness after all that she had said, all that she had accused Bella of. "No," Rani argued, "I was scared and worried and I was taking it all out on you. It was wrong and I can see that now. I guess I just thought that seeing someone else with the Doctor would upset Sarah Jane, even if she wouldn't admit it, but it didn't. I just assumed that everyone had the same kind of relationship with the Doctor, but it doesn't seem like it is the case."

"Everyone is different," Bella said simply. "I mean, I am nowhere near as brilliant as Sarah Jane, and I will never try to be. She was – is – one of his best friend's, she isn't so easily replaced."

"I know that now," Rani admitted shamefully and they fell into a semi-awkward silence. Eventually, Rani built up enough courage to ask "what is it like travelling in the TARDIS?"

"Brilliant," Bella said warmly with a bright smile, "Chaotic, exciting, terrifying, amazing, unbelievable, thrilling, exhilhilarating, disorganized, wonderful and I am now running out of good describing words..." she laughed fondly. "Sometimes you see things and meet people that just warm your heart..."

Rani closed her eyes, glad for something to keep her mind off their current situation. All she could do is listen to Bella and her calming voice (perhaps she was doing it on purpose, Rani didn't know, but she didn't care) and hope that somewhere, the others were still working on getting them and everyone else out of this hell.

-o-

Luke and Clyde also found that Bella had become a good distraction for them. Because they couldn't do anymore than was already being done by the Doctor and Sarah Jane, the two of them sat and listened to Bella eagerly, wanting to find out as much as possible about what life was like in the TARDIS.

"_But then you will meet someone who makes the worst humans imaginable look like warm hearted old men_," They heard Bella continue, "_People who make you re-think how you look at life, how you look at the universe and how you look at yourself. As soon as you step out of that magnificent blue police box it changes your whole outlook; things that were once impossible are now completely real! You start to see things differently, you start to look at things differently you _become_ different. Whether that change is for good or for the worst is left up to you entirely, although the Doctor is always there to point you in the right direction. All I know though is that it's one hell of a ride!_"

"_Did you change?_" They heard Rani ask quietly. "_Was for bad or good?_"

They saw Bella smile. "_For good without a doubt!_" she laughed and Sarah Jane saw the Doctor flash a proud grin as he continued working. "_I mean, I've had my low points, one of them being so low I shouldn't even still be travelling with the Doctor because he should have left me on that planet like I deserve –_"

Out of the corner of her eye, Sarah Jane saw the Doctor grimace briefly in what looked like pain.

"– _but I guess we all make mistakes, I am only human after – well, actually..._" she grinned crookedly as Rani gave a small laugh.

"_What are they,_" Rani asked, "_Your kind? I mean, what are they called, where do you come from, what are they like, where is your planet?_"

The Doctor suddenly looked to the screen sharply and Sarah Jane watched him curiously out of the corner of her eye.

"Don't do it, Belle," Sarah Jane heard him whisper with so much pain in his voice and she didn't understand. "It will only make it so much harder!"

Sarah Jane looked back to Bella on the screen, now understanding the Doctor's pain. Rani had asked Bella about her alien race, an alien race that she knew had been destroyed, just like the Time Lords had been. She wondered if this were the first time she had been asked about her kind since they had all been lost, and judging by Bella's frown Sarah Jane gathered it probably was.

"_Well, they are aliens,_" Bella said slowly.

"Don't do it," the Doctor whispered again, as if willing her not to do it would make her tell Rani the truth.

"_They're the Nealonians_," Bella continued, "_and they live to be thousands of years old and can heal really fast._"

"_Like what you can do?_"

"_Much faster than that,_"

"_Wow!_" exclaimed Rani. "_Do you think the Doctor would take us to meet them when we get out of this situation? We'd – Luke, Clyde and I, that is – would love to visit an alien planet and meet aliens that would be so cool!_"

"_Yeah,_" Bella said flatly, something that Sarah Jane thought all three teenagers missed. "_But wouldn't you rather go to a planet that had aliens that looked like giant bugs or talking animals on it as opposed to going to one that is pretty much like Earth apart from it's in a completely different part of space? Besides, why would I want to go back to where I lived for so long?_" Bella laughed.

Sarah Jane heard how forced Bella's laugh was, saw her pain-filled expression that she hid so well from Rani and she glanced to the Doctor, who had just closed his eyes and bowed his head.

"_I suppose,_" Rani agreed. "_I mean, the last thing I would want to do if I made an alien friend would be to take them back to my house, because it would be pretty boring!_"

It looked to Sarah Jane as though Bella had been about to tell Rani that she would have loved to have seen her house but she had obviously thought that it wouldn't help her argument and decided against it. Sarah Jane looked to the Doctor and put her hand on his arm and he gave a small sigh and continued to work on the wires.

"That will come back to haunt her," he said very quietly so only Sarah Jane could hear him, his voice full of anguish.

"You can't blame her though," Sarah Jane said softly back. "I can't even imagine how she must feel."

"I don't blame her," he said, his voice dropping to that of hardly a whisper. "I did the same thing to Martha Jones once..." he gave a short, bark-like laugh. "What am I talking about; I do it all the time! It is so much easier to pretend that for just one moment that everyone is alive than to have to tell someone that they're all gone..."

Sarah Jane nodded and gave the Doctor's hand a tight squeeze, which he gave a small smile in return before a long silence followed.

Eventually, Rani broke it again.

"_You know how earlier you said that you scared sometimes?_" she asked Bella who nodded in response. "_Well, why do you keep on travelling if you keep getting scared all the time_?"

"_So you don't ever get scared when you're saving the world with Sarah Jane and the boys?_" Bella asked smiling slightly at Rani's guilty expression. "_I'm not scared _all_ the time it's only every now and then. And besides, the Doctor is definitely worth all the monsters –_"

Without looking, the Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at the screen and they suddenly couldn't hear what Rani or Bella were now saying.

"Oi, we were listening to that!" Clyde complained before the Doctor glared at him over the rims of his glasses. "I mean," Clyde added hastily, "No we weren't, keep up the good work, Doctor!"

Sarah Jane exchanged an amused glance with her son, before continuing to help the Doctor and eventually, when she was sure that the Doctor knew that Rani and Bella had moved off the subject of what Bella thought the Doctor was worth living through (she knew that he would have felt upset that Bella felt that the bad aliens were a necessary thing) he pointed his sonic at the screen again so Luke and Clyde could hear Bella telling them about the time her and the Doctor had been to the Amazon.


	9. Chapter 9: The Final Confrontation?

**_Author's note: I'm sorry I am getting these chapters out so quick, I'm not really giving you enough time for them to fully sink in - although, if you are anything like me, you probably don't mind! I just want to make sure that I finish this before I go away so I don't leave you waiting for so long. That would be very cruel of me! So anyway, this is my second last chapter for this crossover episode, so I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!_**

* * *

Luke leant against the wall in the cold, slightly dark room while Sarah Jane and the Doctor worked on whatever it was that the Doctor was trying to achieve by sonicing the wires connected to the mainframe to bits. Luke didn't understand what the Doctor was doing exactly, but Luke did wonder why the Doctor didn't just cut the wires completely. Beside him, Clyde was sitting on the ground, his head leaning to one side, his mouth open and soft snores came from him.

Luke shook his head, wondering how Clyde could possibly fall asleep while their best friend was stuck in a cell with no chance of escaping unless they figured out how to release her. He sighed slightly as he watched Bella begin to pace back and forth uneasily on the screen. He heard his mother's watch give a short beep and she said quietly "its midnight," but he was hardly listening; Bella had just stumbled for a few steps before grabbing hold of the wall to support herself.

"_Bella, are you alright?_" Luke heard Rani asked as she stood up from the floor.

"_Yeah, I'm fine,_" Bella said, her voice shaking a little bit.

"Doctor, I think something's wrong," Luke said as he too stood up from the floor watching the screen closely. Bella seemed to be getting worse by the second.

"Hang on Luke, I think I've nearly got it." The Doctor said, not paying Luke (or anything else) any attention.

"But Doctor, it's Bella," Luke started to say making the Doctor look to him as Bella said breathlessly "_Is it just me, or is it getting harder to breathe in here?_"

Luke watched the Doctor look to the screen frowning and he looked to his mother, worried and confused as Rani said that she could breathe fine. How could Bella be finding it hard to breathe while Rani wasn't?

"_Bella_!" gasped Rani as Bella suddenly swayed and fell to the floor.

"NO!" the Doctor yelled as he ran forward and grabbed the screen with both hands. "Bella," he added desperately.

Clyde woke with a start and saw the Doctor frantically trying to sonic the television screen and hitting it roughly with his free hand. "What'd I miss?" he asked groggily looking up to the Doctor in confusion.

"Bella just collapsed," Luke told him frowning, looking very concerned.

"Blimey," Clyde exclaimed, "how did that happen?"

"Mann!" the Doctor yelled furiously as black alien writing came up on the screen, replacing the one of Rani frantically hovering over Bella.

"What has he done?" Sarah Jane asked quickly, moving closer to him.

"He's lowered the oxygen supply to their cell," the Doctor said frantically, "He must have realised that Bella is only half human! I hope he wasn't listening to their conversation earlier..."

"Half human?" repeated Luke; he had thought that Bella had been fully alien.

"Will Rani be okay?" Clyde asked quickly.

"Rani's body won't detect a change, not one this small." The Doctor said as he began to pace, running his hands through his hair, a sign that Sarah Jane knew meant he was now stressing out. "But Bella's body is a whole different ball game. The slightest increase in the levels of Carbon Dioxide has the potential to knock her out for days."

"How?" asked Sarah Jane, Luke and Clyde at the same time.

"I don't know for sure, I never got the chance to sit down and talk to her grandfather about how things will affect her," The Doctor admitted, "but it is basically like being caught in a house fire; a lot of the time you die from Carbon Dioxide poisoning from all the smoke as opposed to the fire itself. It gets into your blood and poisons you, and poison and the Nealonians do _not_ mix well at all! Unlike humans, Nealonians can't be given a cure or anti-venom to make them better, the process is often irreversible."

Luke and Clyde looked at each other fearfully.

SUNDAY 20th DECEMBER, 2009

Rani watched as Bella slowly began to sway before falling to the floor. She gasped and ran to her side before rolling her onto her back and shaking her gently. "Bella," she said desperately, not knowing what brought this on and not really knowing what she should be doing.

"I'm fine," Bella said weakly, barely managing to open her eyes to look at her.

"What happened?" Rani asked feeling scared and confused.

"It's the oxygen," she said, "there isn't quite enough for me and there is way too much Carbon Dioxide in here..." she attempted to grin at Rani but it looked more like a grimace. "The joys of being part alien, I guess..."

"Bella –"Rani said, wondering why Bella hadn't corrected her from assuming that she was entirely alien but Bella suddenly sat up coughing badly. Rani grabbed her and felt Bella lean on her as she struggled to breathe.

"Rani, you need to tell the Doctor something for me –"

"Oh, don't be so dramatic!" Rani said, trying to sound light-hearted, but she didn't find herself very convincing. "You'll see him in no time –"

"You don't understand," she gasped, grabbing Rani's arm, "Carbon Dioxide is bad for me – well, more than your normal human being and I don't know how long I can be exposed to it without –"

"Don't say it," Rani said emotionally as she watched Bella struggle to remain conscious.

"Rani," Bella gasped her deep alien eyes boring into Rani's human ones, "I need you to tell him because it won't be long before I lose consciousness – Rani, you need to tell him!"

"The Doctor?" asked Rani, scared by how distraught she was becoming. "What do you want me to say?"

"Tell him," she said, suddenly tearful, "what I should have said when he told me – he needs to know –"

"Know what?" Rani pressed, not knowing how much longer Bella would last.

"That I – he needs to know – I should have already told him but there hasn't been time – but he should have guessed..." Bella gasped in pain and closed her eyes before continuing, hardly making any sense now. "I feel the same – I should have told him... should have told him..."

"Bella?" whispered Rani frantically as Bella fell silent as her body became still. She was still breathing, but only just. Rani felt tears run down her cheek. What had Bella wanted to tell the Doctor so badly? Was she going to die all because she tried to save Rani's life? _Is this all my fault_, Rani thought horrified?

-o-

"COME ON!" the Doctor yelled loudly before finally getting the screen to show the cell that Rani and Bella were in and they saw Rani sitting on the ground holding onto Bella lightly. Sarah Jane gasped and Luke and Clyde looked at the screen in horror and the Doctor froze in fear for a millisecond.

"Rani how is she?" the Doctor asked quickly, before adding after seeing Rani look around in alarm "Camera up to your left. How is she?"

"_She's unconscious, I think..._" Rani answered and it surprised Sarah Jane to hear how violently her voice shook.

"It's okay Rani," the Doctor said sounding very relieved. "That is Bella's body's way of protecting itself; she'll breathe less this way, which means there will be less carbon dioxide in her bloodstream. I wasn't sure if she would have been able to do it, but she has, which is very good because it gives us time!" he turned away from the screen and headed back to the wires in the wall.

"_Doctor, she wanted me to tell you something in case she..._"

Sarah Jane watched as the Doctor stopped walking, still facing away from them.

"What was that?" he asked Rani quietly.

"_I don't know,_" Rani said emotionally, and Sarah Jane realised that she was crying. "_She passed out before she could say. She just kept going on about how she should have already told you and that you should have already guessed... it was something about feeling the same about something..._"

Sarah Jane watched the back of the Doctor's head and she wondered what was going through his mind. He turned back to the others eventually and looked straight at the screen with deep, emotional eyes.

"Rani, we'll have you and Bella out of there in no time," he told her strongly before adding very softly "Stay with her."

"_You couldn't separate us even if you tired!_" Rani said as she wiped away tears and the Doctor smiled at the screen gratefully, before springing into action.

Sarah Jane watched as he began sonicing the wires at top speed, his brow creased in concentration. Five minutes past at an unbearably slow rate before the Doctor suddenly kicked the wall out of what seemed to be pure desperation.

"I can't do it!" he declared, horror-struck. He ran his hair through his hair again before beginning to pace again. "I've tried everything I can possibly think of and nothing is working, I can't save her!" he finished, looking across to Sarah Jane, his fear very apparent in his face.

"Doctor, you said earlier when we were in the warehouse that almost all of the power is heading downwards to the cells, right?" Luke said quickly, thinking that there was no possible way that the Doctor could have overlooked something so incredibly simple. The Doctor looked to him nodding hurriedly. "Well, why don't you just sever all the cables? With no power being sent down to them, the cells would have to open..."

The Doctor stared at him for a few short moments before he exclaimed "Oh Luke, you are BRILLIANT!" he ran to Luke and hugged him tightly, yet briefly. "I am so THICK!" he yelled ecstatically. "Mr. Thick Thick Thickety Thick face from Thickania as I called a Clockwork man once!" He gave a hearty laugh and ran back over to the open wall. "Sarah I need your sonic," he said and she quickly gave him her sonic lipstick.

"Stand back!" he grinned in a somewhat crazed manner before Sarah Jane pulled Luke and Clyde back as the Doctor pointed both sonic devices at the wires. A moment later there was a spark followed by a medium sized explosion. The lights suddenly went out and a few seconds later dull, orange security lights came on and the door that was keeping them contained to that room clicked open.

"Lukey-boy," the Doctor grinned, "I think you just saved the day again!"

-o-

Sarah Jane quickly followed the Doctor through the door and back into the warehouse where the bus had been left to find it now full of dazed and confused people; parents, teenagers, primary school children and the people who must have worked at the school prior to it being taken over by two aliens all stood looking blankly at each other, some of the older people trying to offer some kind of explanation to the angry parents. They all seemed to have emerged from a set of steep stairs that had appeared from the stone floor that led into the dark.

Beside her, Sarah Jane saw the Doctor studying the wall beside him, which had strange blue sparks of electricity zapping him every time he touched it. He turned to her quickly and put a hand on her shoulder, leading her over towards the bus. She got the hint and walked closely beside him around the bus where they found a large warehouse door. He quickly soniced the lock and it opened with a clink and he pushed it open.

"I thought we were a few levels down?" Sarah Jane said, surprised that there was a light from a street lamp meeting her eyes.

"I think you'll find that we are a few streets away from the school, Sarah." The Doctor said as he moved towards the front of the bus. "Tell everyone how to get out," he added as Sarah Jane ran to catch up to him before he yelled to everyone near him in his normal voice that held so much authority "Okay, everyone out through the double doors and as far away from the building that you can get as quick as you can!"

Everyone exchanged confused and questioning glances before eventually moving towards the exit that the Doctor had pointed out to them. As he continued to urge everyone out the tall warehouse doors, clearly thinking that something was about to happen, Sarah Jane, Luke and Clyde searched through the sea of faces for Rani and Bella.

"Sarah Jane!" said the excited and relieved voice belonging to Rani as she ran up the stairs past people who were still making their way up from their horrifying cells and running towards her to hug her tightly.

"I am so glad that you are okay!" said Sarah Jane, finally letting go of Rani so she could hug Clyde, both of their cheeks gaining a bit of colour.

"Of course I'm fine," Rani grinned as she shoved Clyde in what Sarah Jane knew to be an affectionate manner before hugging Luke warmly.

"Rani," said the Doctor as he made his way quickly over to them, his voice full of worry and concern.

Rani turned to him trying to resist the urge to grin. "You're just as dramatic as she is," she told him smiling as she nodded and looked behind her towards the stairs. She watched him, giving into temptation and grinning broadly now, as he turned to the stairs and saw Bella slowly walking beside a nineteen year old that they all recognised as Ben Campbell. "She had to make sure that everyone else got out before she did!"

Sarah Jane smiled at the Doctor, who watched Bella walk towards them, his face slightly paler than it normally was. Bella finally looked up to him and her whole face lit up with a breathtaking smile. She saw the Doctor grin happily back at her before she quickened her pace and left Ben Campbell while the Doctor moved quickly towards her too. Sarah Jane watched as Bella ran the last few steps to him and jumped up, wrapping her arms around his neck, the Doctor's arms automatically closing around her waist.

"Aww," Clyde said as the Doctor and Bella laughed fondly and Sarah Jane put an arm around Luke and Rani, every single one of them grinning, "a happy ending!"

"Isn't it just," a familiar voice said behind them.

The Doctor and Bella instantly broke apart and looked to the doorway behind Sarah Jane and the others from which they had entered from before to find Edgar Mann standing sourly.

"You seem to have thwarted me and my plan," Edgar said angrily.

"Naturally," Rani said with an edge to her voice.

"Hey Bella, didn't you say you were going to do something once you were out of that cell?" Clyde asked innocently, looking across to Bella.

"What – oh yeah," Bella answered, her tone going from surprised to furious in a millisecond. She left the Doctor's side and moved closer to Edgar and Sarah Jane expected the Doctor to try and stop her, but all he did was stand passively beside her.

"What are you going to do to me, Bella Lumic?" Edgar asked her condescendingly.

Bella didn't answer him, although his condescending nature seemed to make her even angrier than she already was. She walked straight up to him and clenched her right fist before it collided with the alien's smug face, making him fall to his knees in surprise and pain.

Sarah Jane gasped and covered her mouth with her hands as Clyde gave an approving laugh and Luke and Rani grinned.

"May I just say," the Doctor said seriously, leaning towards the three teenagers who were all waiting to see what happened next, "That I do not approve, nor do I recommend that as a way of dealing with things... however," he added with a child-like grin "that was quite a good hit, if I do say so myself!"

"I am assuming that you've had access to my memories, I think you can answer your question for yourself, don't you." Bella said stiffly and Edgar moved closer to her, still on his knees.

"Please," he said, suddenly sounding quite terrified, making Luke, Clyde and Rani frown slightly. "You are your own legend, the message has been sent across the stars that enemies of the Doctor and those who threaten Earth should fear his faithful companion as much as him because of what you sacrificed to save this entire universe from the Cybermen. Please don't do to me what you did to him!"

"How can I possibly do what I did to him to you?" Bella asked surprisingly harshly, Sarah Jane and the others wondering who this unnamed person was and what she had done to him. "The building isn't even on fire..." she added, her voice now emotionless as she turned to the Doctor, who rummaged through his overcoat quickly and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. He threw them to Bella, who caught them and turned back to Edgar.

"I am leaving you for the Judoon to deal with; as they should be here – or rather, you shall be with them – any minute now." Bella explained as she took his wrist and handcuffed him to the grate on the floor beneath him.

The Doctor walked over to the door and held his sonic up to the small screen on the wall that was surrounded in wires. "There." He said, turning back to Edgar. "I have just locked Sophie in the office that you stole. You both will await trial for what you have done here. Harvesting fear energy on a level five planet is highly illegal and very frowned upon and I can assure you that the Shadow Proclamation will not be impressed in the slightest."

Giving Edgar one last look, the six of them headed out of the doors, Edgar looking down at the ground in front of him until he heard the heavy steel door close behind them. He looked up in the poorly lit warehouse and a smile formed on his panicked face.

He gave a long, deep laugh that echoed all around him. "Oh they think they are so clever!" he said manically, "As if a pair of handcuffs could possibly keep me here!" he laughed again as he used his free hand to retrieve his personal transmat device from his pocket. He took one last look around, dismissing the thought of using it to go and rescue his daughter almost as soon as the thought flashed across his mind; their kind didn't do such useless things, they were much to selfish for that. He smiled slyly and pressed one of the buttons, disappearing in a flash of light.

-o-

Sarah Jane stood in between the Doctor and Luke, the Doctor on her right with Bella beside him, their hands joined. Rani and Clyde stood on Luke's other side and they all looked at the back of the warehouse that they knew was connected to the Academy via the corridors that ran underground. A big black storm cloud had formed over the warehouse with lightning sparking out of it, lighting up the entire sky. From this, they saw another, much larger storm cloud in the distance that they knew was a few streets away hovering over the main part of the school. Rain had begun to fall upwards and it wasn't long before there was an outrageously loud clap of thunder that shook the ground beneath their feet and the warehouse vanished, leaving an almighty great, gaping hole in the ground before them.

There were terrified screams from the people who still remained near the building and people began to ran around madly and get out their phones, some ringing people, others taking pictures. Bella's own phone rang suddenly, making them all jump and she quickly answered it, everyone looking at her and wondering who would possibly be calling her so early in the morning.

"Hello?" she said into her phone, "Jack, it all went fine, we fixed it in the end. Yeah I know, we just watched it, it's because the Judoon apparently knew about what they had been doing... yes we got everyone out... they're on their way are they? Okay, thanks for the heads up. I will talk to you soon, bye," she said before she slid her phone into her pocket and looked to the Doctor. "U.N.I.T. is on their way."

"Time to leave, I think." The Doctor said, offering his arm to Sarah Jane and Rani, who both accepted, the latter looking first to Bella, who shrugged and smiled crookedly in approval before accepting.

"Allons-y!" the Doctor grinned, leading the way down the quiet one way street, making everyone laugh.


	10. Chapter 10: She's Asleep Isn't She?

**_Author's note: So here is the final chapter. It may just raise more questions that it answers, but that was my plan all along. I suppose it gives you a little preview into what may come in the next series (which I have decided to write because a few of you have expressed interest). Unfortunately, this is going to be my last post for a while because I'm going overseas. Hopefully I will be able to do some writing while I'm away. I do give a bit of a preview into the next story (which is meant to be a Christmas special, but its a bit late/early depending how you look at it!) to tease you a little! Anyway, if I don't reply, its because I haven't been on a computer, but I will reply to you as soon as I can! I hope you enjoy!_**

* * *

With a flash of white light, Edgar Mann appeared out of thin air down a dark alleyway just across from the car park to the school he had taken over a week ago had once stood. It had only just disappeared and he let out a relieved sigh; he had only just escaped the Judoon. He grinned triumphantly for a moment before he heard a voice behind him.

"Hello Mr. Mann,"

He spun round and found a tall, dark haired man in the greenish uniform of a major belonging to U.N.I.T. smiling at him.

"Relax Mann, I am not here to capture you or to turn you in," the man said with a sneer. "I do believe that you just met the Time Lord known as the Doctor and his ever faithful half alien companion. I think you may become very handy to me, Mr. Mann in the very near future..."

Edgar looked at the middle-aged man, who had stepped forward into the light coming from a nearby street lamp and felt that there was something off about him, something that didn't feel very human.

"Who are you?" he whispered fearfully.

"Someone who has a score to settle," the man smiled with an evil glint in his eyes.

-o-

After letting everyone in through the back door and hoping that they hadn't woken up Rani's parents across the street, Sarah Jane led everyone into the kitchen, glancing down to her watch; 02:30am. She shook her head slightly. "Anyone for a cup of tea?"

"Oh, yes please!" said Bella enthusiastically. "Do you mind if I go and check the news? I am quite intrigued as to what they'll blame this alien event on."

Sarah Jane smiled as she prepared mugs. "The living room is just across the hall,"

Bella smiled and left the room as Rani asked "What are the Judoon and what will they do to the Mann's?"

"The Judoon are sort of like the intergalactic police force," the Doctor explained as they heard the television turn on across the hall. "Edgar and Sophie Mann will most likely be sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against a level five planet."

"You should get paid," Clyde said seriously. "I bet you and Bella send heaps of villains to them."

Sarah Jane laughed slightly, not being able to imagine the Doctor working for people like the Shadow Proclamation while she poured hot water into the mugs. He did work for U.N.I.T. at one point, she reminded herself.

"I could never work for them," the Doctor said, nodding in appreciation as Sarah Jane handed him a mug of steaming hot tea. "I hate politics!"

Sarah Jane laughed heartily. "Luke, can you take this to Bella, please,"

Luke nodded and took the mug off his mother and walked from the kitchen as the Doctor begun to speak in Judoon ("Tro to go flo po go!") and Rani and Clyde laughed loudly. He walked into the living room to find Bella fast asleep on the lounge, the television remote still in her hand.

"Uh, Doctor?" he said, unsure if this was normal behaviour for her.

"She's asleep, isn't she?" came the Doctor's unsurprised voice from the kitchen.

Luke shook her slightly. "I think so," he said hesitantly, "she just won't wake up..."

"She can't, not yet." The Doctor said emerging in the doorway, looking quite calm compared to everyone else that followed him in.

"Why not?" asked Rani, feeling worried.

"It took a lot for Bella's body to keep fighting and repairing the damaged that was caused by the carbon dioxide," he explained, kneeling down beside Bella and looking at her fondly, "and even then, it only was repairs the body enough so that it can get out of the hostile situation that it's in. The full healing only begins when the body is in a calm, restful state and the mind feels safe enough to allow the body to rest."

He stood up, took the remote out of Bella's hand and gently lifted her up into his arms.

"You aren't going to leave are you?" Rani asked, she still had to thank Bella for saving her life.

"We aren't going anywhere just yet," the Doctor smiled and Rani nodded thankfully. "Thank you though, Rani." He added lightly and she looked up to him surprised.

"What for?" she asked.

"For looking after her when I couldn't," the Doctor said softly, before leaving the room, Sarah Jane following him out into the hall.

She opened the back door to let the Doctor out into the crisp morning air. It was still dark and the windows from the TARDIS emitted a soft blue light. As the Doctor moved past her, down the short steps, Sarah Jane glanced at Bella, who seemed quite content in the Time Lord's warm arms.

"She will be okay won't she?" Sarah Jane asked, hoping that the Doctor's words were true and not just something he had made up to stop them from worrying.

The Doctor turned and looked back up to Sarah Jane. "Give her a few hours and she'll be running around and giving me cheek again," he said with a fond grin on his face.

Sarah Jane smiled at him, thinking that finally he had met his match

"We will most likely see you later today then!" he grinned before turning back around to the TARDIS, the doors opening automatically and spreading a warm golden glow over Sarah Jane's garden.

* * *

**Next Time: Southwark Cathedral, the oldest gothic church in London. Strange sightings have been seen around the church that some believe have something to do with the Vatican in a desperate attempt to lure people back to the faith, but others are thinking along the lines of some kind of alien attack. Giving London's track history with alien encounters at Christmas time, that surely must be the case. But in the Doctor's and Bella's excited haste to get to the church, have they made a serious mistake that could endanger both of their lives? And just what is one of the girls they meet's problem with adventure?**


End file.
